WRITTEN QUESTION E-2078/00 by Eija-Riitta Korhola (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Classification of fuels in the EU.
Date: 2000-06-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU industrial policy, peat, renewable energy

C 89 E/144

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.3.2001

Within this framework the Commission commissioned a study on young entrepreneurs, women entrepre-
neurs, ethnic minority entrepreneurs and co-entrepreneurs (2) in the Union and Central and Eastern Europe.
The main aim was to identify the key issues and problems facing the target groups, in order to inform
policy development at the European level and facilitate effective support for these target groups. The report
on this study is currently being finalised. A printed version of the summary will be widely disseminated
shortly.

Key findings, already available,
include the fact that ethnic minority businesses (EMBs) form a small
minority of the membership or client base of most business support and membership organisations. Just
over one fifth of general support organisations are providing specific services to or have policies regarding
ethnic minority entrepreneurs. Many of the problems faced by ethnic minority entrepreneurs are shared
with other small firms. However some issues appear to be more of a problem for EMBs, such as accessing
finance, perceived discrimination by some financial institutions (3) and support providers, language barriers,
limited business and management skills, and greater marketing weaknesses than the wider small business
population. Finally EMBs are over-concentrated in low entry threshold activities where the scope for
market development may be limited.

On the basis of these first results it appears that there may be a need to increase access of ethnic minorities
to both mainstream support provision and specially targeted support, to improve their access to finance,
support the development of EMBs in new sectors of activity and to sponsor initiatives to build local
capacity.

The full report on this survey will soon be made public and will be available to professional organisations
and to all those concerned. In addition to the study the Commission has supported a number of pilot
projects related to the training needs of entrepreneurs from ethnic minorities. The results of these projects
could provide useful information on the ways to address the needs of this target group.

(1) OJ L 6, 10.1.1997.
(2) The term co-entrepreneur is used to describe the situation of a spouse or other close partner of a business owner-
manager, who plays an important role in running a business even though he or she may not be, strictly speaking,
an owner-manager him or herself.

(3) See also reply given by the Commission to the Written Question E-714/00 by Mr Glyn Ford, MEP, OJ C 374 E,

28.12.2000, p. 141.

(2001/C 89 E/158)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2078/00

by Eija-Riitta Korhola (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(27 June 2000)

Subject: Classification of fuels in the EU

According to a recently published report drawn up by the international scientific study group set up by the
Finnish Ministry of Trade and Industry, peat as a fuel should be classified in its own category as a (cid:145)slowly
renewable biomass fuel(cid:146) as distinct from the biofuels proper (e.g. wood) on the one hand and fossil fuels
(e.g. oil and coal) on the other.

Peat is quite clearly a biofuel in terms of the way it is obtained, but its renewal time is significantly larger
than that for other biofuels. However, as a renewable energy source it should be distinguished from non-
renewable fossil fuels.

In the light of the most recent information on the matter, does the Commission feel the need to reconsider
the earlier classifications and categories relating to fuels?

20.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 89 E/145

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(11 September 2000)

The Commission is participating in the working groups of the United Nations economic commission for
Europe on the international codification system for low, medium and high rank coal as well as the
international classification of in-seam coals. Fuel peat is not included on this codification because peat is
not considered as a fossil fuel.

At the same time, the Commission has given a mandate to the European committee for standardization
(CEN) for the development of standards in the field of solid bio-fuels. The Commission mandate to the
CEN is intended to encourage the development of renewable sources of energy in a contribution to put
into practice the commitments taken at the Kyoto conference, by making use of biomass products from
forestry and agri-foods industries. Peat is a solid fuel that takes thousands of years to form, which can
hardly fit into this category, and thus it has been excluded from the mandate. This is in line with the
Intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories under
the United Nations framework Convention on climate change (UNFCCC), that do not consider fuel peat as
an intrinsically renewable resource.

The Commission further considers that fuel peat has specific characteristics which makes it difficult to
classify. As an organic material formed over several thousand years by the accumulation of plant debris
under anaerobic water-logged conditions, peat contains most of the organic compounds of the original
plants which formed it and could therefore be regarded as an organic based fuel. The present exploitation
of peatlands must be considered within the context of the serious loss and deterioration of peatland areas
that has taken place within the Community. In this respect, national policies that combine the conserva-
tion of significant remaining peatland areas with the exploitation of a relatively small part of the overall
peat resource and an appropriate implementation of an after-use policy may, under particular conditions
of no net loss of peatland values, have a neutral or positive life-cycle impact on overall greenhouse gas
emission from peat production and use.

The role of peat as an energy source is further analysed in a technical and scientific study commissioned
by the Commission, entitled (cid:145)Evaluation for the fuel peat industry in the enlarged European Union(cid:146) and
carried out jointly by a number of peat research organisations in the Community. A copy of the study is
forwarded to the Honourable Member as well as to the Secretariat general of the Parliament.

(2001/C 89 E/159)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2082/00

by Eija-Riitta Korhola (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(28 June 2000)

Subject: Evaluation of the systems of food safety assessment and testing methods used in the Member

States

Has the Commission undertaken any evaluation of the systems of food safety assessment and testing
methods used in each of the Member States (directly, or through a third party), and if so, in which areas
does the Commission believe there may be a need for further research?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(1 August 2000)

The Commission has established through its food and veterinary office in Dublin a team of officials
responsible for the assessment of the effectiveness and equivalence of the food control systems in each
Member State under Article 5 of Council Directive 93/99/EEC of 29 October 1993 on the subject of