WRITTEN QUESTION E-0774/01 by Juan Naranjo Escobar (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Crisis in Turkey.
Date: 2001-03-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Türkiye, accession criteria, accession to the European Union, human rights, monetary crisis

C 340 E/90

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.12.2001

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(26 April 2001)

Article 3(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1621/1999 of 22 July 1999 laying down detailed rules for
the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 as regards aid for the cultivation of grapes to
produce certain varieties of dried grapes (1) stipulates that the aid is to be granted on specialised plots,
production from which has been delivered to processors under contracts.

That provision meets the producers(cid:146) need for security as regards the disposal of their production as well as
that of the processors as regards supplies to their plants.

The time limit for signing contracts strikes a fair balance between the need for the contract to be drawn up
early enough to be fully effective and the competing need for operators to be provided with up-to-date
data on the coming harvest.

Over the marketing year fluctuations in prices for perennial crops and non-perishable products are slight.
Nonetheless, the Commission made provision in Article 5(2) of the abovementioned Regulation to allow
prices agreed upon in contracts to be revised up to 30 November 2001.

The selling price is to be agreed between the contracting parties. The time limit for payment is one of the
components of the price. The Commission will look into the advisability of bringing this time limit into
line with those applying in other aid schemes for products processed from fruit and vegetables.

However, the best way to strengthen the producers(cid:146) position vis-(cid:224)-vis the distributors and processors is to
improve producer organisation and increase the concentration of supply. To that end Council Regulation
(EC) No 2200/96 of 28 October 1996 on the common organisation of
in fruit and
vegetables (2) provides for specific measures to encourage the setting-up and development of producer
organisations.

the market

(1) OJ L 192, 24.7.1999.
(2) OJ L 297, 21.11.1996.

(2001/C 340 E/104)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0774/01

by Juan Naranjo Escobar (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(13 March 2001)

Subject: Crisis in Turkey

The severe crisis in Turkey following the political clash between its president and prime minister has
forced the government to float the currency, which is continuing in free fall against the US dollar and has
lost as much as 43 % of its value in dollar terms. The currency has been devalued with IMF support, even
though that same body had, in December 2000, injected USD 7,5 billion into the Turkish economy, in the
last instalment of an international loan package. The immediate knock-on effect of the Turkish crisis on
emerging economies, from eastern Europe through Latin America to Asia, has once again demonstrated
that financial globalisation is here to stay and that it operates in trigger fashion, not only when there is
a major disturbance in a G7 country but also when problems occur in one of the larger emerging
economies, such as Turkey.

Having shut the door on Ankara in Luxembourg in December 1997, the EU revised its position two years
later in Helsinki, to add Turkey to the twelve eastern European and Mediterranean candidates on the
waiting list for accession. Given Turkey(cid:146)s severe problems in achieving monetary stability and meeting the
convergence criteria, what is the Commission(cid:146)s current position on the matter? What is the present state of
play on the reforms embarked on by Turkey concerning respect for human rights and recognition of the
cultural identity of the Kurdish minority, as preconditions for any launch of the accession process?

4.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 340 E/91

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(1 June 2001)

The Commission is closely monitoring economic developments in Turkey. It expects that a strong and
credible economic programme will be finalised in the near future in close co-operation with the
International Monetary Fund (IMF). The success of the programme hinges on its rigorous implementation
in combination with support from the international community and the private sector. The reform
measures, which have been announced should,
further accelerate the
implementation of the economic reform priorities set out in the Accession Partnership (1).

if properly implemented,

As the Member of the Commission responsible for Enlargement
indicated on 26 March 2001, the
Commission welcomes the adoption on 19 March 2001 of the National Programme for the Adoption of
the Acquis (NPAA) by the Turkish Government. This document is an important landmark in Turkey(cid:146)s
preparation for Union membership and the first stage in a far-reaching programme of political reform. It is
Turkey(cid:146)s interpretation of the Union(cid:146)s Accession Partnership. With regard to the political criteria for Union
membership, a first analysis suggests that further efforts will be required in areas such as ensuring cultural
rights for all citizens irrespective of their origin as mentioned by the Honourable Member.

(1) OJ L 85, 24.3.2001.

(2001/C 340 E/105)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0776/01

by Luigi Vinci (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(13 March 2001)

Subject: Use of animal meal as feed in fish farming

In view of the growing risk of the spread of BSE and the implications for human health:

1. Will the Commission say whether there are any EU regulations on the use of animal by-products as

feed in fish farming?

2.

Is it aware of health problems involving fish farms where animal meal has been used as feed?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(11 June 2001)

In addressing the questions posed by the Honourable Member it is necessary to highlight that most of the
fish species farmed for food production are in their natural environment carnivorous species. When
farmed, they need to be fed mainly with feedingstuffs composed of large amounts of products of animal
origin and mainly of fish meal and fish oil.

The legal basis for the use of products of animal origin in animal nutrition, including farmed fish, is
1.
Council Directive 90/667/EEC of 27 November 1990 laying down the veterinary rules for the disposal and
processing of animal waste, for its placing on the market and for the prevention of pathogens in feedstuffs
of animal or fish origin and amending Directive 90/425/EEC (1). Council Decision 2000/766/EC of
4 December 2000 concerning certain protection measures with regard to transmissible spongiform
encephalopathies and the feeding of animal protein (2), as last amended by Commission Decision 2001/
165/EC of 27 February 2001 (3), further restricts the use in animal nutrition of products of animal origin.

Certain fish diseases may be transmitted to farmed fish fed with raw fish or unprocessed fish waste.

2.
For this reason it is current practice to avoid such feeding.