WRITTEN QUESTION E-3780/02 by Kathleen Van Brempt (PSE) to the Commission. Implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1259/1999: reports by the Member States concerning environmental measures and aid schemes in agriculture.
Date: 2003-01-06
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: agri-environmental plan, aid to agriculture, common agricultural policy, environmental protection, report, sustainable development

8.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 88 E/303

legislation requires completion of a certain insurance period before opening entitlement to a
national
benefit (waiting period), and if a migrant worker has not been insured long enough under the legislation of
this Member State to fulfill the waiting period, Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 stipulates that insurance
periods completed under the legislation of any other Member State must be taken into consideration as if
they had been completed in the said Member State.

(1) Council Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 of 14 June 1971 on the application of social security schemes to employed
persons and their families moving within the Community, Regulation updated by Council Regulation (EC) No 118/
97 of 2 December 1996 (OJ L 28, 30.1.1997).

(2004/C 88 E/0309)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3737/02

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(19 December 2002)

Subject:

‘ABEJ (cid:1) Solidarités’

’ABEJ (cid:1) Solidarités’, based in Lille (France), is an association which performs important work with street
children. Its work, however, is now being put at risk thanks to a 55 % cut in the health budget for 2003.

Between 700 and 800 recipients of help at street level could be affected by this, with the consequent
worsening of social exclusion.

Can the Commission explain the reasons for the reduction in support to associations of this kind, and state
what measures it intends to take to prevent social exclusion from becoming worse?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(30 January 2003)

The Commission has no information concerning the reduction of the aid granted to the French association
‘ABEJ (cid:1) Solidarités’. The amount of this aid is determined solely by the French Government when
adopting the national annual budget.

An analysis of the efforts made by the governments of the Member States to combat poverty and social
exclusion is to be conducted by the Commission, in partnership with the Member States, when the second
series of national action plans to combat poverty and social exclusion is presented in July 2003. The
results of this analysis will be given in the second joint report on social inclusion, to be submitted to the
European Council in spring 2004.

(2004/C 88 E/0310)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3780/02

by Kathleen Van Brempt (PSE) to the Commission

(6 January 2003)

Subject: Implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1259/1999: reports by the Member States concerning

environmental measures and aid schemes in agriculture

Regulation (EC) No 1259/1999 (1) and Implementing Regulation (EC) No 963/2001 (2) lay down common
rules relating to the aid scheme under the common agricultural policy, with, in particular, the receipt of
aid being made conditional upon environmental protection measures being taken. In this instance, Member

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Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

States may opt either for general, binding environmental requirements, for aid granted in exchange for
specific agri-environmental measures or for specific environmental measures upon which the payment of
direct income support is conditional. Member States may reduce or withdraw such aid in the event of non-
compliance with the relevant environmental requirements. The first report on the implementation of this
Regulation during the period 2000-2001 had to be submitted to the Commission no later than 30 April
2002.

1.

Has each Member State duly submitted that report?

Has the Commission completed an evaluation report on the reports so submitted, and can it give a

2.
detailed description of all the measures taken under the two Regulations?

To what extent do the Member States use the opportunities and impose the legal penalties set out in

3.
these Regulations?

4. What are the general environmental implications of these measures?

How, and to what extent, have these measures had an impact on the use of pesticides in agriculture

5.
in the various Member States and regions and in specific areas?

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 113.
(2) OJ L 136, 18.5.2001, p. 4.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(28 February 2003)

The reporting obligations for the application of the horizontal Council Regulation (EC) No 1259/1999 of
17 May 1999 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural
policy are laid down in the implementing Commission Regulation (EC) No 963/2001 of 17 May 2001. Its
Articles 2 and 3 contain the provisions on the content and timetable of the information to be transmitted
to the Commission.

According to Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No 963/2001 annual reports on the implementation of
environmental protection requirements (Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1259/1999) and modulation
(Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1259/1999) shall be submitted by 30 April each year, starting in 2002.

The Commission has received the first annual reports from all Member States with the exception of
Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg and Portugal.

The ‘Agriculture’ Council, in its conclusions on Environmental Integration and Sustainable Development in
the Common Agricultural Policy for the European Council at Göteborg, 15-16 June 2001, invited the
Commission ‘to submit a synthesis report in year 2003 on the measures carried out by Member States in
relation to measures referred to in the Common Rules Regulation (EC) No 1259/1999 including a
qualitative indication of the effects on environment and sustainable development based on the reporting by
Member States’.

The Commission, based on the information submitted by the Member States in 2002 and 2003, will be
preparing this report in the course of the year 2003. Based on two years of reporting it will be possible to
give a first overview of the application of the horizontal Regulation by the Member States and a qualitative
appraisal of the effects of the measures that they have taken.