WRITTEN QUESTION E-1281/01 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Problems associated with drought and lack of water for irrigation in Greece.
Date: 2001-05-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EAGGF Guarantee Section, Greece, drought, irrigation, operational programme, rural development

C 364 E/72

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.12.2001

To protect the people who live and work in the areas affected by foot-and-mouth disease the British
Department of Health has developed a (cid:145)Public Health Guidance(cid:146) and has sent it to the people in these areas.
This guidance is available on the News Co-ordination Centre web site: http://www.co-ordination.gov.uk/
foot_leaflet.htm. In addition a risk assessment of the health effects of pyres has been made entitled (cid:145)Foot
and Mouth: Effects on Health of Emissions from Pyres Used for Disposal of Animals(cid:146) which can be found
on http://www.doh.gov.uk/fmdguidance/pyrereport.pdf

As soon as reliable and precise data are available, the Commission is prepared to inform the Parliament on
its request on the environmental situation after the burning of animal carcasses and to see whether
additional measures are necessary.

(1) OJ C 96 E, 27.3.2001.

(2001/C 364 E/079)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1281/01

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(3 May 2001)

Subject: Problems associated with drought and lack of water for irrigation in Greece

In the coming months, farms in many areas of Greece will be faced with a severe shortage of water for
irrigation owing to the scant amount of rainfall during the winter and the failure to carry out any related
large or small-scale projects (e.g. reservoirs, aquifer enrichment). The exceptionally high unseasonable
temperatures (37 (cid:176)C) in the last ten days of March and the warm wind which affected certain regions
(Thessaly and Central Greece) have already severely damaged cereal crops and, in some cases, devastated
the entire production.

Bearing in mind that drought affects not only agricultural production and farmers(cid:146) incomes but also the
environment and that it is, therefore, imperative to take immediate measures:

1. Has the Commission been informed by Greece about potential drought? Have the Greek authorities
to deal with the situation and alleviate the

for measures

request

submitted any particular
repercussions?

2. What plans have been made under the 3rd CSF for structural measures to improve and bring down

the cost of water resource management?

3. Will compensation be paid to those farmers whose cereal production was damaged by the high

temperatures in March?

4. Will measures be taken to assist those farmers who, owing to the shortage of water for irrigation, will
either be forced not to grow or to restrict their crops, or will suffer a loss of production and income?
(Exemption from the co-responsibility levy for small farmers; application of Article 13(b) of Regulation
(EC) 1750/1999 (1) etc.)?

(1) OJ L 214, 13.8.1999, p. 31.

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(16 July 2001)

1.
The Commission has received no recent specific information on the drought in Greece and the Greek
authorities have not yet submitted any specific request of the sort referred to by the Honourable Member.

20.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 364 E/73

The Community support framework (CSF) for Greece for the 2000-2006 programming period
2.
includes a series of measures to improve management of water resources there, principally in Chapter II,
page 56. The full text may be found at www.inforegio.cec.eu.int. Moreover,
the rural development
operational programme in that CSF and the regional programmes include measures to reduce demand for
irrigation water and promote its rational management. Measures to encourage extensive farming with less
irrigation and better environmental protection through the management of inputs and natural resources,
including water, are also provided for under the agri-environmental measures in the rural development
plan part-financed by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), Guarantee
Section.

3.
The EAGGF has no legal basis to use part-financed measures to offset the losses of income caused by
the drought,. However, the Commission could examine State aid for that purpose under communication (1)
establishing the guidelines for State aid in the agriculture sector, if the Greek authorities notified such an
aid under Articles 87 (formerly Article 92) and 88 (formerly Article 93) of the EC Treaty.

The reduced harvest and income following the drought cannot

4.
justify agri-
environmental aid under Article 13(b) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1750/1999 laying down
detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 on support
for rural
development by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), because a condition of
this Regulation is the preservation of plant genetic resources adapted to the local and regional conditions
and under threat of genetic erosion. On this basis,
the rural development plan approved by the
Commission in September 2000 includes a list of species and of threatened plant varieties which may not
be extended.

in themselves

The arrangements for the coresponsability levy were terminated in 1992 when the common agricultural
policy was reformed. Since they were increased under Agenda 2000, the direct area aids introduced by
that reform, which represent approximately a third of total income, help stabilise the incomes of producers
of arable crops through their fixed character and independence of the harvest.

(1) OJ C 28, 1.2.2000.

(2001/C 364 E/080)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1284/01

by Theresa Villiers (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(3 May 2001)

Subject: EU direct tax

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt recently called for a direct EU tax levied on all citizens. This view
is supported by the Belgian Finance Minister, Didier Reynders, who commented at a Belgian Presidency tax
seminar on 26 March 2001 that Mr Verhofstadt would have the opportunity to raise this issue in the
Council meeting in December at Laeken.

Budget Commissioner Michaele Schreyer told the Danish paper Politikien in March that she thought it was
a good idea and believed it would make EU politicians more responsible in relation to citizens. She
suggested a tax might take the form of a tax on interest from savings placed in another country, or might
be an EU CO2 tax, and added that President Prodi was also interested in this idea.

Could the Commission please state if it has any plans to introduce such a tax on EU citizens, in any

1.
of the forms described, or in any other form?

Could the Commission please state if it has discussed this subject in internal meetings, or with the

2.
members of the Belgian Government?

Does the Commission take the view of the Budget Commissioner that such a tax would make

3.
politicians more responsible to citizens?

4. What position will the Commission take in the run-up to the December meeting in Laeken, where
a direct EU tax might be on the agenda?