WRITTEN QUESTION P-0537/01 by John Hume (PSE) to the Commission. Agriculture in Northern Ireland.
Date: 2001-02-16
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Community support framework, Northern Ireland, agricultural situation, economic consequence, impact study, rural development

C 235 E/222

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

21.8.2001

Furthermore, certain difficulties with human resources in the relevant departments of the Commission
(limited number of staff in comparison with the rapid increase in the number of applications) have meant
that it has taken longer to process applications in recent years, which could go some way to explaining
why applicants have received a late reply.

In order to rectify this situation and improve the management of this initiative at all levels (cid:129) selection,
spreading of the grants throughout the year, rapid processing of applications (cid:129) the Commission has
decided, in consultation with the partner organisations in the area of town-twinning (the representatives of
29 national sections of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions of Europe (CEMR) and the
United Towns Organisation), to introduce in 2001 the call for proposals procedure, which is widely used
in managing the Commission(cid:146)s grants.

It is not possible to grant retrospective funding for the initiative referred to by the Honourable Member,
because the budget for 2000 has been used up and the budgetary resources for 2001 are earmarked for
new projects and will be granted under the new procedure of a call for proposals.

(1) Notice on town-twinning grants (OJ C 238, 22.8.2000).

(2001/C 235 E/260)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0537/01

by John Hume (PSE) to the Commission

(16 February 2001)

Subject: Agriculture in Northern Ireland

Given that agriculture is the largest industry in Northern Ireland, and given the impact of the current
serious crisis, will the Commission carry out a study into the agricultural situation in Northern Ireland
with a view to finding ways of resolving the crisis?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(15 March 2001)

The Commission is indeed aware of the difficulties in the Northern Ireland agricultural sector and its
importance in the regional economy. As regards a study of the sector, the Commission attaches great
importance to integrated regional development with well founded initiatives supported by studies and
evaluation involving the participation of public authorities and economic and social partners.

The Commission approved the rural development plan for Northern Ireland on the 4 December 2000.
This plan is funded out of the Guarantee Section of the European Agriculture Guarantee and Guidance
Fund (EAGGF) and covers the so-called (cid:145)accompanying(cid:146) measures (aid for less favoured areas, agri-
environment and afforestation of agricultural land). This plan includes an (cid:145)ex-ante(cid:146) assessment of these
measures and a description of the current situation and the strengths and weaknesses of the agricultural
sector in Northern Ireland. The appropriateness of these measures should again be examined at the mid-
term and ex-post evaluations for this plan.

On the 20 December 2000 the Commission also approved the Community support framework (2000-
2006) for Northern Ireland on the basis of a structural development plan (SDP). The rural development
measures within this framework will be co-funded out of the Guidance Section of the EAGGF. This SDP
was accompanied by an ex-ante evaluation (prepared jointly by the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research
Agency and a private sector consulting organisation) also covering briefly the strengths and weaknesses of
Agriculture and the Rural Economy.

The Commission is also aware of several agriculture-specific studies carried out in the recent past. Given
the number of recent relevant studies, the importance of including local actors and the finance available
for such studies from the Structural Funds, the Commission does not think it appropriate for itself to
undertake such a study at this time.