WRITTEN QUESTION P-2119/01 by Fernando Fernández Martín (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Payment of compensatory aid to Canary Island banana producers.
Date: 2001-07-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Canary Islands, EU aid, administration of the Institutions, aid to agriculture, farm income, supplementary aid for products, tropical fruit

14.2.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 40 E/191

At this juncture, therefore, the Commission cannot yet state that the Czech Republic has fulfilled all
commitments made at Melk.
the Czech Republic has, however, made a
commendable effort to fulfil its voluntary undertaking that is part of the Melk process.

In the procedure, so far,

It remains entirely at the discretion and within the responsibility of the Czech nuclear safety regulatory
authority to take the decision to license the commissioning of Unit 1 of the Temelin NPP. The Commission
would like to draw the attention of the Honourable Member to the provisions of Chapter IV of the Melk
Protocol. This chapter does not foresee an external safety assessment of the Temelin NPP, but established
an expert mission with trilateral participation with the aim to facilitate the dialogue between the
Governments of Austria and the Czech Republic on the issue of nuclear safety and to find solutions to
identified problems. This so-called (cid:145)trialogue(cid:146) has widely achieved its aims.

(1) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.

(2002/C 40 E/207)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2119/01

by Fernando FernÆndez Mart(cid:237)n (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(10 July 2001)

Subject: Payment of compensatory aid to Canary Island banana producers

Pursuant to Regulation 404/93 (1) and subsequent amendments thereto, Canary Island banana producers
receive aid to compensate for loss of income. Hitherto, such aid has been paid to producer organisations
or individual producers every two months as a supplement to the payment of an advance previously
calculated by the Commission on the basis of actual market prices. In 2000 the aid was approximately ESP
63 per kilo of bananas actually placed on the market. For the same year the payment advanced by the
Commission was approximately ESP 47 per kilo. However, the two-monthly payments which should have
been made for 2000 have still not been effected despite the length of time which has elapsed (cid:129) i.e. the
difference between the ESP 47 per kilo actually received and the ESP 63 per kilo to which Canary Islands
banana producers are entitled on the basis of prices actually recorded on the market has not been paid.

Furthermore, the amounts for the first and second two-month periods of 2001 have not yet been paid
either, despite the fact that they have already been calculated by the Commission and were published in
the Official Journal of the European Communities nearly two months ago.

As a result of these delays (which have yet to be accounted for), Canary Island banana producers are still
awaiting the sum of approximately ESP 8 000 million to which they are entitled,
the arrears
corresponding to the outstanding payments for 2000 and the first two two-month periods of 2001 are
included.

if

What is the cause of the considerable delay which has accumulated (and which has no precedent in earlier
years), who is responsible for the serious losses suffered by Canary Island banana producers, which
administrative department is responsible for the delay and what action is to be taken by the Commission
in order to ensure that the outstanding payments are made immediately?

(1) OJ L 47, 25.2.1993, p. 1.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(4 September 2001)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1195/2001 of 18 June 2001 fixing the compensatory aid for bananas
produced and marketed in the Community in 2000, the time limit for payment of the balance of the aid
and the unit value of the advances for 2001 was published in the Official Journal on 19 June 2001 (1).
Article 3 of this Regulation gives the Member States(cid:146) authorities two months from the entry into force of
the Regulation to pay the balance of the compensatory aid to be granted in respect of 2000 and the
advance for bananas marketed during January and February 2001.

C 40 E/192

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

14.2.2002

The procedure for the annual fixing of compensatory aid involves a series of tasks which all take time if
the data is to be correct and reliable. This may explain why the annual regulation on compensatory aid is
sometimes adopted and published late.

The Commission would also point out that it adopted Regulation (EC) No 471/2001 of 8 March 2001
amending Regulation (EEC) No 1858/93 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EEC)
No 404/93 as regards the aid scheme to compensate for loss of income from marketing in the banana
sector. This Regulation provides for the payment of a sixth advance for bananas marketed during the
months of November and December to take account of cash-flow problems on the part of producers,
pending the determination of the compensatory aid and payment of the balance.

(1) OJ L 162, 19.6.2001.

(2002/C 40 E/208)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2124/01

by Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(13 July 2001)

Subject: Transposition of transport legislation

According to data published by the Commission in May 2001, 30 % of Community transport legislation
has not been transposed into the legislation of all the Member States. Will the Commission say which
specific transport policy directives are being violated by Greece and what measures it intends to take to
ensure the implementation of Community legislation in such a dynamic but sensitive sector?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(6 September 2001)

The fragmentation factor, or the percentage of directives for which not all Member States have notified
national transposition measures to the Commission yet, is indeed still very high in the transport sector
(30 % in May 2001). However, the transposition rate in that sector, or the ratio of national measures
Member States have notified to Commission as transposed to the number to be transposed) has improved
slightly, from 88,5 % on 31 December 2000 to 94 % on 1 July 2001.

The transposition of directives continues to be a problem in some Member States, for example in the case
of maritime transport in the Netherlands (81 %) and inland transport in Greece (80 %).

Greece(cid:146)s transposition backlog is one of the worst, with only 86 % of all transport directives transposed by
1 July 2001. The Commission has accordingly been obliged to institute numerous infringement procedures
(21) against Greece for failure to notify national transposition measures. Ten of these procedures are still in
progress: it has been decided to bring seven of them before the Court of Justice and to deliver a reasoned
opinion on three of them. The problems basically concern the inland transport sector, in particular the
directives on the transport of dangerous goods.

The Commission regularly monitors the progress Member States are making in transposing directives and
it is planned to hold a special meeting on the transposition of directives with the Greek authorities before
the end of the year.