WRITTEN QUESTION E-2124/00 by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. CAP funding statistics.
Date: 2000-06-30
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EAGGF Guarantee Section, EAGGF Guidance Section, agricultural expenditure, national statistics

C 103 E/66

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

3.4.2001

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(13 September 2000)

The Commission would remind the Honourable Member that, to date, there have been no cases of
securitisation (the ability to transfer to third parties the right to receive compensation for transition-to-
competition costs). Without wishing to comment on the report of the Comisi(cid:243)n Nacional de la Energia,
which was produced in a different context, it recognises that, in the event of securitisation, steps will have
to be taken to set up real and effective monitoring of the transition to competition.

The Commission does not at present rule out the possibility that Spanish legislation may have to be
amended or supplemented.

It is unable to determine at this stage whether the measures in question constitute operating aid. The
mechanism to which the Honourable Member refers could be achieved by amending statutory provisions,
introducing secondary national legislation, unilateral undertakings given by the Member State, or imposed
by final decision of the Commission.

(2001/C 103 E/070)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2124/00

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(30 June 2000)

Subject: CAP funding statistics

Taking into account:

(cid:129) the period from 1994 to 1999 and the amounts earmarked in the budget for the common agricultural

policy under the EAGGF Guarantee and Guidance Sections;

(cid:129) the 1992 reform of the CAP, which prompted the Commission to state that CAP aid was highly

concentrated, to the extent that 20 % of farmers were receiving 80 % of the aid;

(cid:129) the most recent reports on cohesion,

in which the Commission has used the expression (cid:145)net

contributor(cid:146) for the purposes of the CAP, specifically with reference to Portugal;

Could the Commission indicate:

1.

2.

3.

the combined aggregate amounts of expenditure under the EAGGF Guarantee and Guidance Sections
actually implemented in the period from 1994 to 1999, also broken down by product and Member
State;

the degree of concentration of the aid currently provided at European level, specifying the percentages
of aid granted to the 5 % of farmers who receive most support in each individual Member State;

the final balance for each Member State for every year from 1994 to 1999, showing the contributions
paid and amounts received under the CAP?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(7 September 2000)

Expenditure booked to the European Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) Guarantee Section is
1.
set out in Tables 1-6 by Chapter and Member State and the commitment appropriations for the EAGGF
Guidance Section, broken down by year and Member State, are set out in Tables 7-14; all of which are
being sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament(cid:146)s Secretariat.

The Honourable Member is asked to refer to the EAGGF financial reports for further information.

3.4.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 103 E/67

The Honourable Member is asked to refer to the Commission(cid:146)s answer to Mr Campos(cid:146)s written
2.
question E-1766/99 (1). The Commission would like to draw the Honourable Member(cid:146)s attention to the fact
that the legal arrangements governing the booking of Community agricultural aid to the Community
budget and to the EAGGF Guarantee Section in particular (Council Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999 of
17 May 1999 on the financing of the common agricultural policy (2) and Commission Regulation (EC)
No 296/96 of 16 February 1996 on data to be forwarded by the Member States and the monthly booking
of expenditure financed under the Guarantee Secion of the Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (3))
delegate a wide range of tasks to the paying agencies of the Member States.

So it is the paying agencies (approved, moreover, by the Member States under Commission Regulation (EC)
No 1663/95 of 7 July 1995 laying down detailed rules for the application of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70
regarding the procedure for the clearance of the accounts of the EAGGF Guarantee Section (4) which
directly manage applications for agricultural aid and which have, therefore, all the data relating to the
beneficiaries.

The Commission, for its part, does not have the data sought by the Honourable Member in its possession.
For its control and auditing purposes the Commission receives from the Member States the accounting
data specified in detail in the various regulations. These data could be processed in such a way as to
identify the individual aid beneficiaries. However, the Community provisions on personal data protection,
which apply to the Community institutions under Article 286 (formerly Article 213b) of the EC Treaty,
make it impossible for the Commission to release this information.

EAGGF Guarantee Section expenditure accounts for only half the general Community budget or
3.
thereabouts. This means that a comparison of this expenditure with Member States(cid:146) contributions will not
reveal by how much a Member State is a net receiver or a net contributor. Account must also be taken of
the expenditure under other Community instruments.

(1) OJ C 303 E, 24.10.2000, p. 14.
(2) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999.
(3) OJ L 39, 17.2.1996.
(4) OJ L 158, 8.7.1995.

(2001/C 103 E/071)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2127/00

by Benedetto Della Vedova (TDI) to the Commission

(30 June 2000)

Subject: Liberalisation of airport services

The Italian Government transposed Directive 96/67 (1) on the liberalisation of airport services in Legislative
Decree No 18 of 3 January 1999.

ADUC (an association representing the rights of users and consumers) lodged an appeal against this decree
(Community reference number 99/4472/, SG(99)A7228), pointing out that the decree allows the uphold-
ing of monopolistic positions to the detriment of consumers, as regards the cheapness, efficiency and
quality of services.

DG VII, responsible for transport, in a letter dated 7 September 1999 (D899/gb/ass/150 290IT) echoed
ADUC(cid:146)s observations and called on the Italian Government to amend its decree, saying that otherwise it
would bring the matter before the Court of Justice.

Since the Italian Government has still not amended its decree and the Commission has not brought
proceedings for infringement of the Community directive, can the latter say why, eight months after
DG VII sent the above-mentioned letter, it has still not brought proceedings against the Italian Government
and whether it does not consider that
the Italian Government(cid:146)s behaviour is objectively aimed at
safeguarding the interests of airport companies at the cost of the consumer, in violation of freedom of
competition?

(1) OJ L 272, 25.10.1996, p. 36.