WRITTEN QUESTION E-3164/00 by Carlos Ripoll y Martínez de Bedoya (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Rural development programmes.
Date: 2000-10-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Balearic Islands, EU financing, rural development

C 163 E/48

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2001

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(8 December 2000)

Many mountain areas are eligible under Objective 1 or Objective 2 of the Structural Funds for the 2000-
2006 period. With regard to Objective 2, the eligibility criteria established for rural areas in Article 4 of
Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provisions on the
Structural (1) Funds help highlight the difficulties faced by some mountainous areas.

Mountain areas are also eligible for aid from the Structural Funds under the Community initiatives Leader+
and Interreg III. Examples of this are transnational cooperation projects carried out in the Community(cid:146)s
alpine regions.

The new rural development policy implemented under the common agricultural policy reform will also
offer new opportunities to mountain areas. The development of the agri-environmental measures and the
introduction of a premium for the maintenance of sustainable forests will be particularly relevant to these
regions. The greater emphasis on the environment in the case of compensatory allowances for less-
is accompanied by an increase in these payments of
favoured areas, which include mountain areas,
the farms concerned needing to make any major
between € 25 and € 200 per hectare, without
adjustments. Considered alongside other measures such as support
for quality, diversification (rural
tourism, craft industry) or the renovation of villages, this new rural development policy confirms the
Commission(cid:146)s commitment to promoting these areas.

The Commission recently published a booklet (2) on structural policies and mountain areas which aims to
make mountain regions more aware of the opportunities available to them under Community policies.
This booklet is being sent to the Honourable Member and to Parliament(cid:146)s Secretariat.

Furthermore, during 2002 the Commission is planning to organise a seminar for the International Year of
Mountains explaining how to better mobilise Community policies in mountain regions.

(1) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 1.
(2)
ISBN 92-828-8976-9.

(2001/C 163 E/047)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3164/00

by Carlos Ripoll y Mart(cid:237)nez de Bedoya (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Rural development programmes

(10 October 2000)

The Commission has approved rural development programmes for the period 2000-2006 which concern
the Balearic Islands.

Will it make available a copy of the rural development programmes approved for the Balearic Islands?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(8 December 2000)

Three separate documents deal with rural development programming in the Balearic Islands for the period
2000-06: the horizontal plan for the improvement of production structures, the horizontal plan of
accompanying measures and the rural development plan for the Balearic Islands.

6.6.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 163 E/49

The horizontal plan for the improvement of production structures has a budget of € 397 million and
includes measures relating to investments on agricultural holdings, the installation of young farmers and
the improvement of water resources. The Commission adopted the plan on 15 September 2000 (1).

The horizontal plan of accompanying measures includes measures for the early retirement of farmers and
measures to benefit less-favoured areas, with environmental conditions attached. Lastly, the rural develop-
ment plan for the Balearic Islands complements the above two plans. Having already been approved by the
Committee on Agricultural Structures and Rural Development on 24 October 2000, these last two plans
are now in the process of being adopted by the Commission.

The rural development plans, once adopted, become public property. A copy of the approved plan is
accordingly being sent to Parliament under the terms of the (cid:145)Gil Robles-Santer(cid:146) agreement of 6 May 1999,
where it can be consulted by the Honourable Member.

(1) COM(2000) 2682 final.

(2001/C 163 E/048)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3166/00

by Helena Torres Marques (PSE) to the Commission

(2 October 2000)

Subject: Enlargement

How many enlargement chapters had been closed by the end of August for each of the candidate
countries?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(14 November 2000)

For the candidate countries with which negotiations started in March 1998 (Cyprus, the Czech Republic,
Estonia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia), the chapters which have been provisionally closed to date are free
movement of goods for the Czech Republic, free movement of capital for Estonia, company law for
Cyprus, Estonia and Slovenia, fisheries for Cyprus, Hungary, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia,
European Monetary Union (EMU) for all six candidates, statistics for all six candidates, social policy and
Employment for Cyprus, industrial policy and telecommunications for all six candidates, small and midium
sized enterprises (SMEs) for all six candidates, science and research for all six candidates, education and
training for all six candidates, telecommunications for all six candidates, culture and audio-visual for
Cyprus, consumer and health protection for all six candidates, customs union for Cyprus and the Czech
Republic, external relations for Cyprus, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Poland, common foreign and
security policy (CFSP) for all six candidates, and financial control for Cyprus, Hungary, Slovenia and
Poland.

According to the above, 16 chapters have been closed with Cyprus, 13 chapters each with Estonia and the
Czech Republic, 12 chapters with Slovenia, and 11 chapters each with Poland and Hungary.

For the candidate countries with which negotiations were launched in February 2000 (Bulgaria, Latvia,
Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Slovakia), the chapters which have been provisionally closed to date are
statistics for Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia, industrial policy for Malta, SMEs for all six candidates, science
and research for all six candidates, education and training for all six candidates, telecommunications for
Malta, external relations for Malta, Romania, and Slovakia, and CFSP for all six candidates. Therefore, Malta
has provisionally closed 7 chapters, Slovakia 6, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania 5 chapters each, and
Bulgaria 4 chapters.