WRITTEN QUESTION E-0986/01 by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Normal funding of CAP and measures to eradicate BSE in Greece.
Date: 2001-03-30
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Community budget, EU aid, Greece, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, budget estimate, cattle, common agricultural policy, foodstuffs legislation, veterinary inspection, veterinary legislation

4.12.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 340 E/137

(2001/C 340 E/155)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0975/01

by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Council

(3 April 2001)

Subject: Stockholm Summit

Recent reports suggest that the Swedish Presidency intends to the make the March Summit a (cid:145)baby summit(cid:146)
concerned with remedying the EU(cid:146)s demographic profile by encouraging Europeans to have more children.

What studies has the Council made of effectiveness of similar exhortations in the past? What estimates has
it made of the strain on the EU(cid:146)s resources and natural environment that an increase in the birth rate
would place? And how does it believe such a policy would dovetail with the EU(cid:146)s emerging common
policy on immigration?

Reply

(16 July 2001)

The Stockholm European Council on 23 and 24 March 2001 addressed the demographic challenge of an
ageing population and the consequences for social welfare systems.

It was pointed out that the ageing society calls for clear strategies for ensuring the adequacy of pension
systems, as well as of health care systems and care of the elderly, while at the same time maintaining the
sustainability of public finances and inter-generational solidarity.

The question of demographic change was debated in that context, but the Stockholm European Council
did not explicitly debate encouraging Europeans to have more children and therefore cannot be considered
to have been a (cid:145)baby summit(cid:146).

(2001/C 340 E/156)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0986/01

by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(30 March 2001)

Subject: Normal funding of CAP and measures to eradicate BSE in Greece

It has recently been estimated that measures to eradicate BSE may last a number of years and thus
completely upset
the Common Agricultural Policy, since even the cost of
implementing Regulation (EC) 2777/2000 (1) adopting exceptional support measures for the beef market,
which provides for a scheme under which bovine animals over 30 months old may be purchased for
destruction instead of being slaughtered for human consumption, will be in excess of € 1 billion. next year.

the normal

funding of

Bearing mind also that from 1 January 2001 all the Member States are obliged under Decision 2001/8/
EC (2) to apply reinforced rules for the testing of bovine animals entering the food chain and annual
programmes of epidemio-surveillance of BSE involving rapid post mortem tests, will the Commission say:

1. How does it intend to address the cost explosion in the beef sector due to the implementation of the
the CAP and the agreed

measures to eradicate BSE without disturbing the normal
framework for the financial perspective?

funding of

2. Have the legislative, regulatory and administrative provisions for the implementation of the BSE
epidemio-surveillance programme entered into force in Greece, what spending has been made and
what progress achieved, according to the report which the Greek authorities were due to submit to
the Commission in March 2001?

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4.12.2001

3. What checks have been carried out (sampling and laboratory tests) in Greece on the basis of Decision
2000/374/EC (3) on epidemio-surveillance for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies by the two
national reference laboratories and what were their findings?

4. What aid has Greece received from the Community in connection with the Community reference
in accordance with Directives 92/46/EEC (4), 92/117/

laboratories designated at Community level
EEC (5), 1999/72/EC (6) and Decisions 1999/312/EC (7) and 1999/313/EC (8)?

5. Has an electronic tagging and registration system been introduced for cattle in Greece and what is the

state of implementation of Directive 93/43/EC (9) on the hygiene of foodstuffs?

(1) OJ L 321, 19.12.2000, p. 47.
(2) OJ L 2, 5.1.2001, p. 28.
(3) OJ L 135, 8.6.2000, p. 27.
(4) OJ L 268, 14.9.1992, p. 1.
(5) OJ L 62, 15.3.1993, p. 38.
(6) OJ L 210, 10.8.1999, p. 12.
(7) OJ L 120, 8.5.1999, p. 37.
(8) OJ L 120, 8.5.1999, p. 40.
(9) OJ L 175, 19.7.1993, p. 1.

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(30 May 2001)

1.
For the financial year 2001, the appropriations from the initial budget were established at a time
when the forecasts for the agricultural markets were favourable. The initial appropriations estimated as
sufficient for financing the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 2001 accordingly amount to € 38 803
million, leaving a margin of € 1 232 million in relation to the financial ceiling for the agricultural sector.

Following the BSE crisis which erupted at the end of 2000 and the measures adopted in December 2000,
the costs of which for 2001 were estimated to be € 971 million, the Commission proposed and the
budgetary authority adopted an amending supplementary budget at the end of February 2001 which
increases the appropriations for the bovine sector by € 971 million. Total agricultural appropriations were
increased by € 726 million because,
the
supplementary revised budget had to take account of the development of the dollar-euro exchange rate
and reduce, by € 245 million, the appropriations for certain sectors. The new agricultural appropriations
for financing the CAP, except for rural development, come to € 39 529 and remain below the financial
ceiling for the agricultural sector

in accordance with the rules of budgetary discipline,

The budget for 2002 has not yet been drawn up. However, as part of the preparatory work, it is estimated
that the additional expenditure resulting from the measures adopted and proposed following the BSE crisis
will continue to be financed in accordance with the financial perspective.

It should be noted that the assumptions on which these forecasts are based are not altogether solid. If these
assumptions prove to be optimistic, it will be necessary to revise the financial estimates upwards and re-
examine the situation with regard to the ceiling of the financial perspective. Foot-and-mouth disease is also
another element which creates uncertainty and budgetary risk. The situation is therefore being monitored
carefully.

2. and 3.
At the beginning of this year, Member States were asked to send a report to the Commission
on the status of implementation of the new BSE-related Community measures. In that report, Greece
confirmed that the new legislation on BSE testing had been implemented. The Food and Veterinary Office
checked the implementation of BSE-related legislation, including epidemio-surveillance, in an inspection
carried out in Greece in February 2001. Once the final report of this mission has been completed, it will
be circulated to the Parliament and published on the Commission(cid:146)s web-site. A further mission to Greece is
scheduled to take place within the next few months.

According to monthly reports on BSE testing received from the Greek veterinary services, a total of 2 147
BSE tests were carried out between January and March 2001. Of these, 2 052 were made in healthy
slaughtered cattle, 57 in dead-on-farm cattle and 38 in emergency slaughtered cattle. In addition, two
clinically suspect animals were examined for BSE. The results of all tests and examinations were negative.
No report has so far been received on spending.

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So far, the Community has not granted financial aid to Greece pursuant to the Directives and
the Community Reference Laboratories

4.
Decision mentioned by the Honourable Member. None of
mentioned in those Directives and Decisions is situated in Greece.

The Commission is not aware of the introduction of an electronic ear-tagging system for cattle in
5.
Greece. The Commission project on electronic identification of animals (IDEA) is due to be finalised by the
end of this year. On the basis of the outcome of this project the Commission will present a report on
electronic identification accompanied by possible proposals to the Parliament and the Council.

With regard to Council Directive 93/43/EEC of 14 June 1993 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, Greece
informed the Commission of
transposition of 27 October 2000. Each Member State is
responsible for implementing the Directive. The Commission, through the Food and Veterinary Office
(FVO), carries out on-site checks in the form of audits to ascertain how the Member States have transposed
and implemented the Directive.

the act of

(2001/C 340 E/157)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0987/01

by Emmanouil Bakopoulos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(30 March 2001)

Subject: Threat of survival of cetaceans

Every year tens of thousands of cetaceans die in fishing nets in European waters (cid:129) in particular some 4 %
of the total population of harbour whales die in this way. The IWC estimates that in the long term marine
cetaceans are in danger of becoming extinct, since they are dying off at a rate of 1 % annually.

Given that Principle 15 of the Rio Earth Summit Conference of 1992 and UNEP(cid:146)s 1999 annual report
attach great importance to multilateral environmental agreements as a means of reducing environmental
degradation, what action does the Commission intend to take to address this important problem?

Answer given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behalf of the Commission

(8 June 2001)

All cetacean species are specifically protected under the Habitats Directive (1). Member States have to take
the requisite measures to establish a system of strict protection in order to ensure a favourable
conservation status of cetaceans.

On the basis of this Directive, and along with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species (2)
(CITES), any kind of hunting for whales and trading in whale species is forbidden in the
Community.

As for the interaction between these species and fishing activities, the Community has addressed the
incidental capture of cetaceans on several occasions, adopting legislation on the grounds both of internal
and multilateral commitments.

Community Fisheries legislation already limits the size of drift nets and has introduced measures to
prohibit their use from the start of 2002, with expected consequential benefits to the cetaceans (3)
populations.

At multilateral level, the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Programme (4) is applied by
the Community since 1 June 1999,
following its adoption by the Council. The Community has
subsequently implemented the rules of this Agreement with a view to protecting cetaceans in the
tuna fisheries of the Pacific Ocean (5).