WRITTEN QUESTION E-3942/00 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission. Application of the common fisheries policy.
Date: 2000-12-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU Member State, common fisheries policy, territorial waters

C 174 E/196

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

19.6.2001

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000 (1)

B

5

0

4

2

1

DK

2

6

7

4

2

D

15

9

11

2

2

EL

2

4

2

1

1

E

4

2

1

1

0

(1)

First eleven months.

Votes against

IRL

IT

2

2

2

1

0

6

6

8

8

1

F

3

3

3

3

0

L

0

1

0

2

0

NL

2

2

14

4

1

A

2

2

3

1

2

P

1

2

2

1

0

FIN

1

4

0

0

0

S

4

7

3

0

1

UK

7

7

2

0

1

(2001/C 174 E/206)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3940/00

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(13 December 2000)

Subject: Common agricultural policy and enlargement

Will the Commission cite candidate country official estimates, or private sector or academic estimates of
the cost of applying the current common agricultural policy rules and support prices to as many of the
candidate countries as are available?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(23 January 2001)

Any serious estimate of the cost of applying after accession the current Common Agricultural Policy to the
new Member States would require a reasonably accurate knowledge of the date, and the terms and
conditions of the accession of the countries concerned to the Union. However, these aspects will be
determined in the course of the accession negotiations with these countries. Consequently, any cost
estimate made on the basis of assumptions (cid:129) no matter how carefully constructed (cid:129) will therefore
necessarily be of a hypothetical, speculative and uncertain nature. At the present stage of the negotiating
process the Commission therefore prefers not to publicly cite estimates from sources such as those
mentioned in the question from the Honourable Member.

(2001/C 174 E/207)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3942/00

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(13 December 2000)

Subject: Application of the common fisheries policy

Will the Commission state whether the common fisheries policy applies to the coastal waters of all the
Member States and if not, why not?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(22 January 2001)

The geographical scope of the Common Fisheries Policy is the same as that of the EC Treaty. Thus, it
applies to the territories of all Member States (except in the cases of Greenland and the Faeroe Islands) as
well as to certain overseas territories of the Member States, (see Article 299 (ex-Article 227) of the EC
Treaty). These territories, of course, include the territorial seas of the Member States which can be claimed

19.6.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 174 E/197

up to a 12-mile limit from their baselines. It is clear, according to a consistent case-law of the Court of
Justice, that the Common Fisheries Policy applies not only to the territorial seas but also to all areas where
Member States are able to exercise fisheries jurisdiction under international law (i.e. also in their exclusive
economic or exclusive fishery zones). The Common Fisheries Policy thus applies in all coastal State waters.
This is confirmed by Article 1 of the basic fisheries Regulation (Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 of
20 December 1992 establishing a Community system for fisheries and aquaculture (1)) which provides:
(cid:145)The common fisheries policy shall cover exploitation activities involving living aquatic resources, and
aquaculture, as well as the processing and marketing of fishery and aquaculture products where practised
on the territory of Member States or in Community fishing waters or by Community fishing vessels.(cid:146) In the
same Regulation (cid:145)Community fishing waters(cid:146) are defined as (cid:145)the waters under the sovereignty or jurisdic-
tion of the Member States(cid:146) (Article 3(a)).

(1) OJ L 389, 31.12.1992.

(2001/C 174 E/208)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3944/00

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(13 December 2000)

Subject: Variable VAT rates

Will the Commission please state what restrictions are imposed by EU law on the freedom of regions or
local authorities to levy variable VAT rates should they so desire?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(8 February 2001)

According to the Community legislation on VAT which is currently in force, Member States must apply a
single standard rate to all goods supplied and all services provided. They also have the power to institute
either one or two reduced rates.

Save in the case of specific derogations concerning the approximation of VAT rates granted during the
negotiations on Directive 92/77/EEC (1), these rates must be applied throughout the entire territory of the
Member State.

VAT is a general tax, which is intended to apply to all economic transactions within the Member State
concerned. The tax is proportional to the price of goods and services. It is levied at every stage in the
production and distribution process, and its impact is passed on to the consumer.

Moreover, the measures which Member States take in this respect cannot be allowed to endanger either the
free circulation of goods or the proper functioning of the single market.

VAT is also subject to the principle of a single rate, namely, that identical goods or services cannot be
taxed at different rates.

For all these reasons, regional and local authorities cannot be empowered to set variable rates of VAT, for
this might undermine the neutrality of the tax.

(1) Council Directive 92/77/EEC of 19 October 1992, supplementing the common system of value added tax and

amending Directive 77/388/EEC (approximation of VAT rates); OJ L 316, 31.10.1992.