WRITTEN QUESTION P-3287/01 by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Refunds for use of potato and cereal starches and aid for potato starch.
Date: 2001-11-20
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: aid system, aid to agriculture, budget, cereals, potato, production aid, starch

C 134 E/214

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2002

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(17 January 2002)

It is the right of importing countries to set their own level of phytosanitary protection, within the
constraints laid down by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary
and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS). It is the responsability of the individual Member State to give the
phytosanitary guarantees requested by the third country. The Commission is involved where it appears that
international rules are not being adhered to or the provisions of the SPS Agreement or other relevant
agreements such as the International Plant Protection Convention have been breached. At present, the
Commission is seeking further information necessary to assess the case.

(2002/C 134 E/226)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3283/01

by Laura González Álvarez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(27 November 2001)

Subject: Spanish fishing vessels prevented from unloading in the port of La Rochelle (France)

At the end of October, fishermen from Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country complained that the
attitude adopted by the French authorities, had enabled French fishermen to prevent 37 fishing vessels
from the above-mentioned Spanish regions from unloading their catch of anchovy in the port of La
Rochelle.

What action is the Commission intending to take in order to ensure that such a thing does not happen
again and to guarantee the free movement of goods, as provided for in the Treaties?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(18 December 2001)

The Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its answer to written E-3148/01 by Mr Valdivielso
de Cué (1).

(1) OJ C 115 E, 16.5.2002, p. 233.

(2002/C 134 E/227)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3287/01

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(20 November 2001)

Subject: Refunds for use of potato and cereal starches and aid for potato starch

In accordance with the Court of Auditors’ annual report, € 900 million have been allocated from the
Community budget to refunds for use of potato and cereal starches and to aid for potato starch. This is
actually,
in a very indirect manner, the only Community instrument relating to potatoes, despite the
importance of such crops in overall agricultural production. Since 1994, when the Council rejected the
Commission’s proposal, the establishment of a common organisation of the market in potatoes has been
placed on the back burner.

Against this background, will the Commission specify:

? the annual amount of resources allocated from the Community budget to refunds and aid for potato

starch since 1994 and the relevant breakdown by Member State?

? the total number of beneficiaries by Member State and the number of companies which are

beneficiaries (stating the names of the companies and the amount of aid allocated to each)?

6.6.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 134 E/215

On the basis of the amount allocated, will the Commission also provide its assessment of this system,
especially with regard to the competitiveness of companies using starch, farmers’ yield and compensation
for the structural disadvantages obtaining in the starch sector?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(18 December 2001)

The Commission would like to point out that the budget of € 900 million mentioned by the Honourable
Member for 2000 includes expenditure of € 500 million on direct area-aid for cereals, as the Court of
Auditors Special Report indicates in Point I of the Summary and in Table 2 of the Annex (1).

A proposal for a Council Regulation on a common organisation of the market in potatoes (2) was
presented by the Commission in 1992. This Commission draft, revived in 1995 and 1996 by the Spanish
and Irish Presidencies of the Council respectively, was not adopted because of the opposition of some
Member States.

The Commission is sending direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament’s Secretariat the requested
information on potato starch expenditure by Member State. As the beneficiaries are paid by the paying
agencies of the Member States, which are in turn reimbursed based on their monthly declarations by
budget heading,
the Commission does not have the information on beneficiaries requested by the
Honourable Member.

The Commission has ordered an evaluation of the potato and cereals starch sector, which is still under
way. The Commission expects the final report to be ready within the next few months and, once it has
drawn its own conclusions from the report, it will then be able to present its own evaluation of the
scheme.

(1) Court of Auditors Special Report No 8/2001 of 1 October 2001 concerning refunds for the production of potato

and cereals starch and potato starch aid.

(2) OJ C 333, 17.12.1992.

(2002/C 134 E/228)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3290/01

by Christopher Heaton-Harris (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(27 November 2001)

Subject: Social inclusion in Member States

What EU funds are available to promote social inclusion in Member States? How much has been allocated
and under what budget line(s) do they fall?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(21 January 2002)

The European Social Fund (ESF) is an important source of Community funds to promote social inclusion in
Member States. The ESF Regulation (1) outlines the five policy fields through which ESF will support the
development of the labour market and human resources. One of these policy fields aims to ‘promote equal
opportunities for all in accessing the labour market, with particular emphasis on those exposed to social
exclusion’. Following negotiations between the Commission and Member States, over € 9 billion of ESF will
go to promote social inclusion across the Community during the period 2000-2006.