WRITTEN QUESTION E-1333/02 by María Herranz García (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Promotion of wine.
Date: 2002-05-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: advertising, consumer behaviour, import (EU), international competition, per capita consumption, wine

C 301 E/128

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

5.12.2002

(2002/C 301 E/138)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1364/02

by Ian Hudghton (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

Subject: Review of the common fisheries policy

(14 May 2002)

Could the Commission please indicate how fisheries policy would be regulated within European Union
waters
the common fisheries policy by
31 December 2002?

in the event of a failure to agree on the review of

(2002/C 301 E/139)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1387/02

by Struan Stevenson (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Review of the Common Fisheries Policy

(6 May 2002)

Could the Commission please indicate how fisheries policy would be regulated within European Union
waters in the event of a failure to agree on the review of the Common Fisheries Policy by 31 December
2002?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-1332/02, E-1346/02, E-1364/02 and P-1387/02
given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(29 May 2002)

If the review of the Common Fisheries Policy is not agreed by 31 December 2002, with the sole exception
of the rules relating to access to the 12 mile zones of Member States, the existing rules will remain in force
unless the Commission proposes and the Council adopts other amending Regulations prior to or following
that date.

(2002/C 301 E/140)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1333/02

by María Herranz García (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 May 2002)

Subject: Promotion of wine

The consumption of wine in Spain and the other main wine-producing countries is continuing to fall,
whilst imports from the American continent, above all, are continuing to grow. Consumption in Spain
alone fell by more than one million hectolitres between 1999 and 2001.
In countries where the
consumption of wine is part of a deep-rooted cultural tradition it is paradoxical that consumption of their
own wine is decreasing in favour of other wines produced outside the EU. According to figures supplied
by agricultural co-operatives, Germany is the only country where there is an increase in consumption, but
this increase is being absorbed by New-World wines. Those in the trade have thought for a number of
years that the only way out of the problem is to introduce effective promotional measures in order to try
to salvage the market.

Could the Commission specify the precise reasons for the decline in consumption and could it explain
what promotional measures are planned both inside and outside the European Union and how much
money is earmarked for them?

If they are to be general promotion measures, does the Commission consider that they will be as effective
as individual promotional measures for specific wines?

Does the Commission consider that the promotional campaigns subsidised by the Community will be on a
scale comparable to the advertising carried out by third countries in the European Union?

5.12.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 301 E/129

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(27 June 2002)

supplied by the
The Commission has only general
Member States. That information currently indicates a relatively substantial fall in consumption in the
producer Member States (cid:1) particularly in France, Italy and Spain.

information on wine consumption trends,

It seems clear that the fall in consumption is largely structural: the younger generations are drinking less
wine, in particular less table wine with meals on a daily basis. Between 1996 and 2001, wine consumption
fell from 34,7 to 31,7 million hl in Italy and from 35,1 to 34,7 million hl in France.

Although consumption is rising in the non-producer countries, the relatively low starting point means that
the increase there is insufficient to offset the decrease in the producer countries. Between 1996 and 2001,
consumption rose by 1,9 million hl in the United Kingdom but fell by 3,0 million hl in Italy.

With the increasing globalisation of trade and the disappearance of more and more trade barriers, it is not
surprising to see wines from third countries penetrating a market previously supplied solely by
Community production. Between
from 5,8 to
1996 and 2001, wine
8,8 million hl (+ 51 %) and consumption of these ‘New World’ wines increased in the United Kingdom
from 3,6 to 6,2 l/person (+ 72 %).

increased

imports

The Commission would point out that the Community promotional campaigns provided for are to
supplement private initiatives and must be of a generic and non-commercial nature. These promotional
campaigns are intended, in particular, to highlight the special features of Community production and its
links with our winegrowing regions’ soils, history and culture.

The financial support available for these promotional campaigns is relatively small. In the absence of
figures on third countries’ advertising campaigns, the Commission is unable to assess whether they are
proportional.

(2002/C 301 E/141)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1339/02

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Eligibility criteria for compensatory payments

(13 May 2002)

The system of compensatory payments is extremely important in offsetting the specific disadvantages of
less-favoured regions, where agriculture and related activities generally play an important role. However,
the effectiveness of the system depends above all on the type of eligibility criteria and the degree of
in view of the different farming situations in the Member States, especially as regards the
flexibility,
conditions of land tenure. In the outermost regions these issues are particularly significant because of the
specific difficulties inherent in their status and the heavy dependence on certain sectors such as farming. In
the autonomous region of the Azores many cattle farmers are not applying for compensatory payments
because of the new criteria, namely the limit of 2,5 livestock units per hectare, whereas the ratio in the
Azores is 3 or 4 livestock units per hectare. Everyone knows how important the beef and dairy sectors are
in the Azores.

In view of this, can the Commission say:

(cid:1) what the reason for the limit of 2,5 livestock units is and whether this figure takes account of the

specific characteristics of the outermost regions;

(cid:1) what measures it can take, on the basis of the islands’ status as an outermost region (Article 299(2)), in

order to solve this problem and ensure correct application of the compensatory payments?