WRITTEN QUESTION P-1724/01 by Dana Scallon (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Farmers in Europe.
Date: 2001-06-06
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Central and Eastern European countries, agricultural statistics, census, farmer, working population engaged in agriculture

C 364 E/192

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.12.2001

What is the Commission(cid:146)s view of the preventive management measures taken by individual EU Member
States to combat phylloxera?

Does the Commission recommend the use of carbon disulphide to combat phylloxera?

How effective, in the Commission(cid:146)s view, is the Bayer AG product Confidor against the leaf galling form of
phylloxera?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(16 July 2001)

The Grapevine phylloxera, Daktulosphairas vitifoliae (Fitch), has for principal hosts the plants of the genus
Vitis L. It is present in the following Member States: Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg,
Austria, Portugal and United Kingdom. The Community legislation recognises this insect as being a harmful
organism whose introduction into, and spread within, all Member States shall be banned if it is present on
plants of Vitis L., other than fruit and seeds. Therefore, it is listed under point 2 of Annex II, Part A,
Section II
the
introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their
spread within the Community ( (1)), as last amended by Commission directive 2001/33/EC of 8 May
2001( (2)).

to Council Directive 2000/29/EC of 8 May 2000 on protective measures against

The Food and Veterinary Office (FVO), Health and Consumer Protection Directorate-General, has among its
responsibilities the control of the harmonised implementation of the Community legislation in the plant
health field. Within the framework of this mandate, FVO officials regularly carry out missions in the
Member States. Moreover, since 1996, Member States have not notified the Commission of any
interception of Daktulosphaira vitifoliae (Fitch) on plants of Vitis L. produced in the Community.

The use of plant protection products in the Community is regulated by Council Directive 91/414/EC of
15 July 1991, on the placing of plant protection products on the market ( (3)). Under the Directive, the
Commission is responsible for assessing the safety of the active ingredients used in such products and the
Member States are responsible, at national level, for evaluating and authorising the products themselves. In
so doing, the Member States have the competence to regulate the conditions of use. The active substance
carbon sulphide has not yet been evaluated at Community level and it is not within the competence of the
Commission to issue recommendations on its use. Imidacloprid, which is the active substance in the
is currently being evaluated by the Commission and the Member States. Until the
product Confidor,
evaluation of the active substance is complete, the Commission cannot judge the efficacy of the product
and it would, in any case, be the Member States that would have the responsibility of evaluating the
product.

(1) OJ L 169, 10.7.2000.
(2) OJ L 127, 9.5.2001.
(3) OJ L 230, 19.8.1991.

(2001/C 364 E/209)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1724/01

by Dana Scallon (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(6 June 2001)

Subject: Farmers in Europe

How many farmers are there in each of the applicant countries?

20.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 364 E/193

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(11 July 2001)

It is difficult to answer this question for the following raisons:

1)

there is no common definition of (cid:145)farmers(cid:146) and even the definition of (cid:145)farm(cid:146) may vary greatly from one
country to another;

2)

the threshold adopted for the minimum size of farms has not yet been harmonised;

3)

a clear picture will only be obtained when all applicant countries have carried out a full agricultural
census, according to the Community methodology.

The following table gives an overview of the number of farms in candidate countries on the basis of the
official figures that the Statistical Offices in the applicant countries have supplied to Eurostat. Employment
in agriculture, as provided by the Labour Force Surveys, is also given for information. Although these
figures for agricultural employment may differ from those provided by the agricultural census, they are
more comparable as they are based on the same international standards.

Number of farms and employment in agriculture in Candidate countries

Country

Agricultural units
(incl. Household plots)

Bulgaria

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Estonia

Hungary

Latvia

Lithuania

Poland

Romania

Slovakia

Slovenia

Source: Eurostat
(1)
(2)
(3)

rough estimate.
in 1991.
registered farms.

1 800 000

55 000

250 000

380 000

2 200 000

313 000

470 000

3 060 000

4 600 000

840 000

90 000

Farms (mostly exceeding
a certain threshold and
producing for the market)

(1) 360 000

52 000

26 300

19 900

(2) 1 342 000

123 000

75 000

(1) 2 000 000

n. a.

(3) 22 600

90 000

Employment in agriculture
(2nd quarter 2000)

n. a.

15 000

241 000

40 000

244 000

137 000

277 000

2 698 000

4 918 000

144 000

85 000

The second column of this table contains for most countries the total estimated number of units owing
agricultural land, of which the largest part produces only for their own consumption. The third column
consists of
the applicant countries themselves consider to be
the number of
agricultural
economically active persons who gain a significant part of their income from agriculture, according to
Labour Force Survey definitions, in the second quarter of the year 2000. Due the seasonal evolution of
agricultural activity, figures on employment may vary throughout the year.

the estimated number of units that
farms according to their classification. The fourth column provides