WRITTEN QUESTION E-3092/01 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Progress with olive cultivation register in Greece.
Date: 2001-11-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, aid system, area of holding, cartography, information system, olive-growing, production aid

C 134 E/198

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2002

(2002/C 134 E/205)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3092/01

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Progress with olive cultivation register in Greece

(13 November 2001)

As indicated in the Court of Auditors’ Special Report 11/2000 and the Commission’s answers to my
previous questions (E-0214/99 (1) and E-1557/97 (2)), the process of drawing up an olive cultivation
register in Greece is still in the initial stages, while utilisation of the amounts withheld from producers up
to 1998 was negligible (0,42 %).

Given that the olive cultivation register must be completed if aid is to be paid out after 1 November 2003,
will the Commission say:

1. what stage has now been reached in drawing up the olive cultivation register in Greece? What

amounts of the sums withheld have been used?

2. Does the Commission consider that Greece will have completed the olive cultivation register within

the prescribed deadlines so that payment of aid will not pose a problem?

(1) OJ C 325, 12.11.1999, p. 88.
(2) OJ C 21, 22.1.1998, p. 70.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(14 December 2001)

As from 1 November 2003, olive-oil production aid will be granted solely on oil obtained from olive trees
that are found to be present using an olive-cultivation geographical information system (GIS).

Since 1 November 1998, the main points distinguishing the olive-cultivation GIS from the register of olive
cultivation previously used are the following: the method of financing is different, the inventory includes
only those holdings covered by the aid scheme, no search is now made for the legal owner of parcels,
which are now agricultural rather than land-register parcels, and more advanced digital mapmaking
techniques are used. No amount is withheld from the aid to finance the olive-cultivation GIS. According to
the Court of Auditors’ Special Report 11/2000, between 1979 and 1998 the amount withheld from
production aid for the register of olive cultivation amounted to € 383.1 million, including € 101,37 million
in Greece. Use of the amounts withheld stands at € 244,69 million, of which 0,42 % was used in Greece.

Introducing the olive-cultivation GIS entails looking into discrepancies between the number of olive trees
found in aerial photographs and those declared by the aid applicants. Completion of the olive-cultivation
GIS is determined at regional or Member State level on the basis of a report drawn up by the Member
State. To that end, the regulations call for certain criteria to be met, including a discrepancy rate of up to
5 % between declarations and photo interpretations for all the cultivation declarations concerned.

to ascertain compliance with the deadline mentioned by the Honourable Member,

In order
the
Commission is monitoring progress in the olive-cultivation GIS closely. As things stand, it is still too
early to comment on the project’s completion.

(2002/C 134 E/206)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3097/01

by Heidi Hautala (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(13 November 2001)

Subject: Transitional period for the introduction of dioxin limits in Finland

The Commission has proposed, with good reason, that levels of dioxin exposure from food in the
European Union should be reduced. The proposed limits would require Baltic herring and salmon to be
banned for human consumption. This would radically affect the eating habits of the elderly in Finland.