WRITTEN QUESTION E-3559/01 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Performance of the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) in Greece.
Date: 2002-01-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EAGGF, EU aid, Greece, agricultural expenditure, aid to agriculture, cotton, infringement of EU law, infringement procedure (EU), livestock farming, management audit, olive oil

4.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 160 E/139

5. What can the Commission do to help eliminate obstacles to the finding of habitats for European
hamsters bred with the aim of enabling the species to survive and to help facilitate cross-border breeding
programmes?

Source: Rotterdams Dagblad, 29 and 30 November 2001

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(15 February 2002)

The fact that the European hamster has been included in annex IV of the Council directive 92/43/EEC of
21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (1), hereafter ‘Habitats
Directive’, shows that the Commission is aware of the necessity to maintain the conservation status of this
species.

On the occasion of exchanges that took place with the non-governmental organisations (NGO) ‘Das en
Boom’ in relation to complaint cases, the Commission has been informed of the existence of a captive
breeding programme using hamsters caught from the wild.

The Dutch Government has sent to the Commission a ‘Hamster Protection Plan 2000-2004’, which aims
to establish 500 hectares of suitable habitats in which captive-bred individuals can be released. Under
complaint procedure A-98/2016, the Commission has requested the Netherlands to supply information
about the legal instruments to realise this plan and about its results so far. The Netherlands have replied to
this request on 21 October 2001. The Commission is currently examining this reply.

Capture, exchange, and reintroduction of species listed in annex IV of the ‘Habitats Directive’ can be
allowed by Member States under a derogation regime that complies with the provisions of Article 16 (1) of
this directive. Provided that Member States decide to jointly apply such a derogation regime there should
be no problem with the crossing of national borders.

(1) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.

(2002/C 160 E/176)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3559/01

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Performance of the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) in Greece

The Court of Auditors’ Special Report 4/2001 (1) states that ‘IACS has not been implemented in Greece’
(point 64 of the Report) and that ‘the basic elements of the IACS have been implemented in all Member
States, with the exception of Greece’ (point 74 of the Commission’s reply), while Table 4 shows that the
Commission identified weaknesses in all the basic controls on area and livestock aid. Furthermore, the
Panhellenic Confederation of Unions of Agricultural Cooperatives which undertook the IACS has alleged
(Communication of 2.8.2001) that the Ministry of Agriculture will be unable to meet payments of aid to
producers this year owing to delays in signing the relevant agreement.

Given that most of the aid is now paid through the IACS, will the Commission say:

1. What are the consequences for Greece, producers and the protection of the Community’s financial

interests of failing to implement the IACS?

2. What steps has the Commission taken to oblige Greece to implement the IACS?

C 160 E/140

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.7.2002

3. Given the sharp protests by farmers about delays, omissions and faulty entries, how does it judge the

performance of the IACS today in the olive oil, cotton and stockbreeding sectors?

(1) OJ C 214, 31.7.2001, p. 1.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(7 February 2002)

The Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) facilitates the efficient and effective disbursement
and control of Community expenditure by the Member States. The Commission views non-implementation
of IACS extremely seriously.

In response to the Honourable Member’s questions, the Commission would state the following:

1. Greece’s non-implementation of IACS means that it is unable to administer and control expenditure in
compliance with governing legislation, that its administrative and control procedures are unnecessarily
burdensome and ineffective and hence that it is unable to properly control expenditure declared to the
European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF). Consequently, as for all Member
States, the Commission’s services responsible for the audit of agricultural expenditure follow very
closely the IACS situation in Greece and refuse where appropriate Community financing in the
context of its clearance of accounts procedure (Art 7 (4) b of Council Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999
of 17 May 1999 on the financing of the common agricultural policy (1)). Any amounts of refused
Community financing are thus charged to the national budget.

For Greek producers, the above-outlined deficiencies entail a heavier administrative burden than would
otherwise be the case, and sometimes involve delays in the payments to which they are entitled.
Furthermore, given that many aids are subject to individual, regional and national quotas or ceilings,
the inadequacy of controls results in the disbursement of funds to ineligible persons, thereby depriving
rightful beneficiaries of their legitimate share of available aid.

In these circumstances,
Community’s economic interests.

the IACS situation in Greece clearly fails to properly safeguard the

2. As well as conducting regular on-the-spot audit missions to determine Greece’s compliance with
governing Common agricultural policy (CAP)
legislation, which have often led to the financial
consequences outlined above, the Commission has instigated an infringement procedure for Greece’s
failure to introduce IACS by the given deadline.

3. The areas cultivated with cotton must be declared under the IACS according to Article 9 of
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1591/2001 of 2 August 2001 laying down detailed rules for
applying the cotton aid scheme (2). Member States have to check in the field 5 % of those declarations
and, where applicable, penalise infringements by producers.

The IACS does not provide for olive groves, which should be registered in a tailor made equivalent
system called the olive cultivation geographic information system (GIS). The IACS and the olive
cultivation GIS should be connected but neither of these systems exists fully in Greece at present.
Therefore Greece, for the olive oil sector, has to carry out on-the-spot inspections of 10 % of all crop
declarations.

As concerns Community aids for animals, the most recent on-the-spot audit mission conducted by the
Commission services in Greece established that the required system of Identification and Registration
for bovines is still only in its pilot stage, and so is already several years behind its due date for
completion. Likewise, for sheep and goats, the flock movement registers to be kept by producers are
still not effectively implemented or monitored. Those parts of the systems already put in place are not
considered capable of serving as proper administrative and control tools as intended.

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999.
(2) OJ L 210, 3.8.2001.