WRITTEN QUESTION E-2959/00 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Problem of the flooded cereals harvest.
Date: 2000-09-20
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: cereals, common organisation of markets, flood

22.5.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 151 E/29

That forecast is based, among other things, on the fact that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe
will most probably have joined the EU by then.

Given that the loss of Objective 1 status will be a severe economic blow to the two islands,

what action does the Commission feel it should take to maintain the cohesion of Objective 1 regions, with
particular reference to peripheral and island regions?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-2955/00 and E-2966/00
given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(7 November 2000)

In January 2001 the Commission is to adopt the second Report on Economic and Social Cohesion, which
will be submitted to Parliament under Article 159 (formerly Article 130b) of the EC Treaty.

The report will consider the position and development of the regions in the context of an enlarged Union,
evaluate the impact of Community policies on cohesion and propose guidelines for cohesion policy
beyond 2006.

The Commission wants this second report to be the catalyst for a major debate on the future of this policy.
To this end it is organising in May 2001 a forum to which the Members of Parliament and all those
actively involved in regional development in the current Member States and in the applicant countries are
to be invited.

(2001/C 151 E/037)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2959/00

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(20 September 2000)

Subject: Problem of the (cid:145)flooded(cid:146) cereals harvest

The Commission has recently stated its willingness to modify the intervention standards for the moisture
content of cereals if so required by the situation on the ground. It is now clear that the intervention
standards need to be modified as a matter of necessity. After the excessive precipitation farmers are talking
of a (cid:145)flooded(cid:146) harvest.

Has the Commission already drawn up proposals for modifying the intervention standards for the moisture
content? If so, when will the proposal enter into force? If not, given the seriousness of the situation on the
ground, will the Commission still modify the intervention standards for the moisture content?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(31 October 2000)

The Commission took action following its statement on the moisture content of cereals from the 2000
harvest through Regulation (EC) No 2107/2000 of 4 October 2000 derogating, as regards the maximum
moisture content of certain cereals offered for intervention during the 2000/2001 marketing year, from
Regulation (EC) No 824/2000 establishing procedures for the taking-over of cereals by intervention
agencies and laying down methods of analysis for determining the quality of cereals (1).

The Regulation authorises Member States to set the maximum moisture content for common wheat, barley
and rye at 15 %, subject to the price reductions given in the Annex. The Regulation is to apply from
1 November, the date on which intervention begins in the northern Member States.

(1) OJ L 250, 5.10.2000.