WRITTEN QUESTION P-2654/01 by Mario Mauro (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Rice surpluses.
Date: 2001-09-21
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU stock, animal nutrition, food aid, intervention stock, product quality, rice, terms for aid

18.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 93 E/171

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(9 November 2001)

Decision No 1934/2000/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000 on the European Year of
Languages 2001 (1) stated that the measures envisaged ‘will cover the official languages of the Community,
together with Irish, Letzeburgesch, and other languages in line with those identified by the Member States
for the purposes of implementing this Decision.’ In practice, no Member State imposed any limits on the
languages considered eligible for support in the context of this initiative. Projects involving esperanto or
other artificial languages were evaluated on the same basis as other projects. Very few applications of this
kind were received and none was among those ultimately selected for financing.

(1) OJ L 232, 14.9.2000.

(2002/C 93 E/204)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2633/01

by Gian Gobbo (TDI) to the Council

(20 September 2001)

Subject: Displays of hostility to the West in Turkey

As a result of the recent tragic terrorist attacks against the United States, the European Union is having to
reconsider its foreign policy and, in particular, its relations with the Islamic world which is increasingly
influenced by a markedly anti-Western public opinion.

One significant illustration of this is the whistling which prevented the minute’s silence in memory of the
victims of the New York attack from taking place at the Galatasaray-Lazio football match on Tuesday
11 September in Istanbul. This regrettable incident is symptomatic of the fact that European values and
sentiments are alien to a large proportion of Turkish society and highlights the absurdity of Turkey’s
proposed accession to the European Union.

Does the Council not consider that it should ask the Turkish authorities to issue an explicit condemnation
of such displays of hostility to the West?

Reply

(10 December 2001)

The disruption of the minute’s silence in memory of the victims of the New York attack at the Galatasaray-
Lazio football match on 11 September was indeed a regrettable incident. It is clear, however that this
attitude is not shared by the Turkish Government, which unreservedly joined in the indignation and
solidarity expressed by the international community in the wake of the events of 11 September. The
Council rejects the conclusions that the Honourable Member seems to be drawing.

(2002/C 93 E/205)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2654/01

by Mario Mauro (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(21 September 2001)

Subject: Rice surpluses

The Management Committee for Cereals and Rice in Brussels has issued instructions whereby supplies of
paddy rice from the 97 and 98 marketing years stored in the European Community are to be used as
animal feed.

This concerns around 50 000 tonnes of paddy rice, equivalent to 30 000 tonnes of white rice, which
would be enough to feed 2-3 million people for a whole year.

Will the Commission explain the reasons for this decision, given that it is likely to leave many baffled in
view of the efforts being made to combat hunger in the world?

C 93 E/172

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.4.2002

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(15 October 2001)

At present the intervention stocks of rice are in the order of 620 000 tons of paddy corresponding to
around 370 000 tons of milled rice. The oldest stocks dates back to the 1996 and 1997 harvests.

In general there is a risk that rice may deteriorate after three years in storage, in which case it would loose
value.

In order to avoid such deterioration of the old stocks it is planned to sell 50 000 tons of the oldest paddy
rice for animal feed. The rice will not be sold on the normal rice market in order to avoid that it replaces
rice from the market, which would then be pushed into intervention storage.

The Commission has so far not identified possibilities for using substantial quantities of rice as food aid.
Such aid must respect the principles concerning food aid deliveries.

The main principles are:

D it should be given in response to an official request from the potential beneficiaries;

D it should be targeted to the needs of the recipients and carefully distributed with due attention to the

local habits and nutritional needs for the beneficiaries;

D triangular transactions and local purchase should be promoted; and

D it should respect the principles for surplus disposal.

However, if possibilities for using substantial quantities of rice as food aid are identified, the Community
will still have very important quantities of rice available in intervention stocks.

(2002/C 93 E/206)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2660/01

by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(1 October 2001)

Subject: Fines imposed on Member States and the destination of the monies collected

Could the Commission say whether it is true that a fine imposed on a Member State (such as the recent
fine imposed on Greece) does not become part of the EU’s own resources but is instead credited to the net
contribution of the state in question, thus making a mockery of the whole system of fines?

Answer given by Ms Schreyer on behalf of the Commission

(12 November 2001)

For the Honourable Member’s information, fines imposed under Community law constitute one source of
revenue in the general budget of the European Union (Chapter 7.1). In accordance with the principle of
budgetary universality,
they are used, along with the other categories of revenue (particularly own
resources, which account for the largest share), to finance the expenditure entered in the budget. Revenue
from fines is not used for a specific purpose and cannot in any way be refunded or credited to the Member
State which paid the fine.