WRITTEN QUESTION E-3394/02 by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Olive production register in Greece.
Date: 2002-11-28
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU aid, Greece, agricultural statistics, aid system, award of contract, census, geographical information system, olive oil, olive-growing

C 137 E/200

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

12.6.2003

(2003/C 137 E/225)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3394/02

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(28 November 2002)

Subject: Olive production register in Greece

Will the Commission say what stage has been reached in drawing up the olive production register in
Greece and what amounts of funding have been made available? What are its views on the progress made
so far and what consequences might the delay have?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(11 December 2002)

Under Commission Regulation (CE) No 2366/98 (1) the olive tree registers are being replaced by a modern
Geographical Information System (GIS) called ‘Olive GIS’.

In Greece the work has been divided into two phases.

The Ministry of Agriculture, in charge of the implementation, has contracted the work to consortia of
companies:

(cid:1) phase one, which contains the creation of the reference material using aerial photographs, has been

completed at a cost of EUR 2 919 527;

(cid:1) phase two covers the implementation of both olive and vineyard GIS at the same time. In Greece the
vineyard register has not yet been implemented. This second phase covers the identification of olive
trees and vineyards on the aerial photographs as well as the verification with the declaration, and is
divided into 14 contracts, each covering a different geographical zone. The value of the contracts for
this part is estimated to be EUR 29 215 134 for the olive GIS and EUR 8 168 703 for the vineyard GIS.

The second phase started very late due to problems linked to public contracts. Two of the 14 contracts still
have to be signed. The first tangible final results are expected by the end of 2002 while the main part of
the work is expected to finish in the first semester of 2003.

The Commission will evaluate, according to rules defined in Commission Regulation (CE) No 2366/98,
the completeness of the system once the Greek authorities announce it to be ready in a final report.

In the absence of a working GIS the Greek authorities are obliged to control 10 % of the applications
on-the-spot.

As from 1 November 2003, olive oil produced from olive trees not covered by an approved GIS will be
excluded from aid payment for olive oil. So if the GIS is not in place by this date, no aid will be paid by
the European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) for the olive oil in question (2).

(1) Commission Regulation (EC) 2366/98 of 30 October 1998 laying down detailed rules for the application of the
system of production aid for olive oil for the 1998/1999, 1999/2000 and 2000/2001 marketing years, OJ L 293,
31.10.1998.

(2) Council Regulation (EC) No 1513/2001 of 23 July 2001 amending Regulations No 136/66/EEC and (EC) No 1638/
98 as regards the extension of the period of validity of the aid scheme and the quality strategy for olive oil, OJ L 201,
26.7.2001.