WRITTEN QUESTION E-1132/01 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Establishment of a new EAGGF paying agency in Greece.
Date: 2001-04-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EAGGF Guarantee Section, Greece, administrative powers, conflict of powers, payment, public institution

C 318 E/210

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.11.2001

(2001/C 318 E/228)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1121/01

by Esko Sepp(cid:228)nen (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(6 April 2001)

Subject: Final storage of spent nuclear fuel

Some European countries will shortly be taking decisions on final storage sites for spent nuclear fuel. Does
the Commission see any possibility of nuclear fuel storage policy being placed on a Community footing so
that each country does not have to keep this material itself but can have it stored in the sites which are the
safest from the point of view of the whole EU?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(8 June 2001)

The Commission encourages co-operation between Member States concerning the disposal of high level
waste. This includes spent nuclear fuel if it not to be sent for reprocessing. In its Communication to the
Council in January 1999 (1), the Commission took the following line: (cid:145)The Commission repeats its plea for
self-sufficiency of the European Union as a whole and solidarity between Member States in matters of
radioactive waste disposal. As in the strategy for non-radioactive waste the Union should aim for self-
sufficiency, even if transfer to countries outside the Union is not excluded in Community legislation on
control of shipment of radioactive waste. The possibility of voluntary co-operation between Member States
however should be kept open, where,
for example, a regional approach to disposal could result in
improved safety and environmental benefits(cid:146).

The Commission believes that this should continue to be the Community(cid:146)s approach. The benefits of
a regional approach are of particular interest to the Member States without, or with very small, nuclear
power programmes where the cost of disposing of their very limited quantities of waste will have an
extremely high unit cost. On the other hand, the Commission believes that all those Member States with
nuclear power programmes should at least have the capability to safely manage their own wastes,
including their eventual disposal, even if there were to be voluntary co-operation on a regional approach.

However, the geology and tectonic setting of Western Europe is such that a variety of sites have been or
could be identified that would be suitable for geological disposal. Moreover, as pointed out in the recent
Green Paper on security of energy supply (2), (cid:145)definitive storage is feasible and construction and operating
techniques are mature enough to be applied(cid:146). The geology of Europe, coupled with the technical barriers
that would be used in a repository, mean that it is very likely that every Member State could identify at
least one potential site on its territory.

(1) COM(98) 799 final.
(2) COM(2000) 769 final.

(2001/C 318 E/229)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1132/01

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Establishment of a new EAGGF paying agency in Greece

(10 April 2001)

In adopting Law No 2892 of 9 March 2001 the Greek government has set up a new paying agency which
will carry out payments for the EAGGF(cid:129)Guarantee section programmes contained in the agricultural
development planning document, and specifically payments for compensation, early retirement, agro-
environmental measures and reafforestation. The reason for the establishment of this new paying agency
was that it constituted a Commission requirement for the payment of appropriations to those eligible.

13.11.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 318 E/211

Will the Commission say:

1.

Even if the establishment of paying agencies is the responsibility of Member States, the Commission
has declared itself in favour of the smallest possible number of such paying agencies. Has the
Commission(cid:146)s policy changed and is it now recommending the establishment of separate paying
agencies for measures funded by the agricultural development programme?

2.

In which other EU countries have separate paying agencies been set up for these programmes?

3. Will the provisions of Regulation (EC) 1663/95 (1) apply to this new paying agency set up by Greece?

Will a coordinating body also have to be set up?

4. According to Article 15 of Law 2637/98, responsibility for the payment of compensation belongs to
the paying agency controlling Community EAGGF spending, and its provisions have not been
amended. Can two paying agencies exist side by side with the same statutory responsibilities?

(1) OJ L 158, 8.7.1995, p. 6.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(23 May 2001)

During an inspection visit on 25 September 2000 the Greek authorities informed the Commission that
a new paying agency was to be set up shortly in Greece to take over from Gedidagep. The new paying
agency would be responsible for all measures, both prior to and after 1 January 2001, that are financed by
the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF).

The establishment of a new paying agency is the responsibility of the competent national authorities
(Article 1(2) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1663/95 of 7 July 1995 laying down detailed rules for the
application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 regarding the procedure for the clearance of the
accounts of the EAGGF Guarantee Section (1)).

The Commission has made a number of remarks and issued certain warnings that the current paying
agency should bear in mind if it does not want to lose the Member State(cid:146)s accreditation.

The number of paying agencies per Member State is governed by Article 4(5) of Council Regulation (EC)
No 1258/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the financing of the common agricultural policy (2).

Currently no separate paying agency has been set up for rural-development measures.

If a new paying agency were to be set up,
Regulation (EC) No 1663/95, whatever the agricultural measure concerned.

it would have to apply all the conditions laid down in

Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999 and Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1663/95 provide that
there should be one coordinating body only per Member State and only where there is more than one
paying agency.

The Commission points out that two paying agencies with the same statutory responsibilities cannot exist
side by side. Any new paying agency can start operating only where the conditions laid down in particular
in Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 1663/95 are met. For the time being, until 15 October 2001 the only
accredited paying agency is Gedidagep.

(1) OJ L 158, 8.7.1995.
(2) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999.