WRITTEN QUESTION E-0483/03 by Bill Newton Dunn (ELDR) to the Commission. Consequences for farmers of digital mapping of the UK.
Date: 2003-02-20
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: agricultural real estate, aid per hectare, aid to agriculture, common agricultural policy, eligibility criteria, farmers' income, type of tenure

C 268 E/106

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

7.11.2003

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(16 April 2003)

To date, no Candidate Country has sought to contact the Commission specifically about assistance in
relation to the issue of the destruction of obsolete pesticides.

However, the Commission has commissioned a study in order to be able to better identify the problems
associated with obsolete pesticides in the Candidate Countries and the ways in which the countries are
going to deal with them (1). The study, which was published in September 2002, provides an overview of
each of the Candidate Countries of stockpiled obsolete pesticides, including persistent organic pollutants,
and their management.

The Commission has not sought detailed information on the thermal incinerator capacity of Candidate
Countries. However, Candidate Countries will be required to implement Community legislation concerning
hazardous waste that ensures that these stockpiles are disposed of in an adequate manner. According to
Council Directive 91/689/EEC of 12 December 1991 on hazardous waste (2) pesticides are considered as
hazardous waste requiring specific care during disposal (incineration in specific incinerators). If a Candidate
Country does not have an adequate incinerator which respects the environment
this will
necessitate upgrading of the facility or transport to appropriate incinerators elsewhere in the Union.

‘acquis’,

As indicated in the reply to Written Question E-1951/02 by the Honourable Member the Commission is
aware of the problems caused by obsolete pesticides and Community financial assistance is available if
requested by the Candidate Countries. In its recent Communication, ‘Towards a thematic strategy on the
sustainable use of pesticides (3)’ which follows on from Article 7(d) of the 6th Environmental Action
Programme (4), the Commission proposes that, in close co-operation with Candidate Countries, specific
support programmes be developed, which target the handling of stocks of obsolete plant protection
products and their safe destruction. However, the Commission is of the opinion that responsibility and
initiative should be taken by the Candidate Countries themselves, in line with their obligation to transpose
and implement the ‘acquis’.

Given that a percentage of obsolete pesticides fall under the scope of the Stockholm Convention on
persistent organic pollutants, measures for their disposal will be eligible for funding through the
Convention. So far proposals from seven Candidate Countries for inventory work for persistent organic
pollutants related contamination have been accepted.

(1) European Commission, Directorate General for Environment,

‘Obsolete Pesticides Status in Candidate Countries’.

Final Report. September 2002.

(2) OJ L 377, 31.12.1991.
(3) COM(2002) 349 final.
(4) Decision No1600/2002/EC of

the Parliament and of

the Council of 22 July 2002 laying down the Sixth

Community Environment Action Programme, OJ L 242, 10.9.2002.

(2003/C 268 E/107)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0483/03

by Bill Newton Dunn (ELDR) to the Commission

Subject: Consequences for farmers of digital mapping of the UK

(20 February 2003)

As a result of the digital mapping of the United Kingdom, some British farmers fear that all European
payments will be consolidated and then paid out as a hectorage payment.

Should this come about, they fear that the payment would be made to the owner/landlord of the land and
not to the occupier as is the case with milk quotas, and would result in landlords claiming a large
proportion of the payment.

Are their fears justified?

7.11.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 268 E/107

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(24 March 2003)

Article 36 of the Commission’s proposal establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the
common agricultural policy (CAP) (1) grants any farmer access to the Single Payment Scheme, who has an
entitlement based on a direct payment received in the reference period 2000-2002.

As stated in Article 40 of the same proposed Regulation, the reference amount shall be the three years
average of the total amount which a farmer was granted. This amount is based on the number of hectares
and the number of animals under the relevant support schemes, for each calendar year of the reference
period.

Subsequently, Article 47 of the proposal lays down that any entitlement granted to a farmer at the time of
the setting up of the Single Payment, which is accompanied by an ‘eligible hectare’, shall give right to the
payment of the amount fixed by the entitlement in the future. ‘Eligible hectare’ shall mean any agricultural
area of the holding taken up by arable land and permanent pasture except areas under permanent crops,
forests or used for non agricultural activities on 31 December 2002.

Within this scheme, as a general principle, it is therefore the farmer, who holds entitlements derived from
his direct payments during the reference period and who can accompany his future claim for the Single
Payment with an equivalent number of eligible hectares, who will receive the payment.

However, without prejudice to this general principle, in order to allow flexibility to respond to specific
situations, Member States have the option to define a certain balance between individual payment
entitlements and regional or national averages by applying the single payment scheme at a regional level.
In this case, a farmer whose holding is located in the region concerned shall receive an entitlement per
hectare which is calculated by dividing that part of the national ceiling corresponding to the region by the
number of reference hectares established at regional level.

(1) COM(2003) 23 final.

(2003/C 268 E/108)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0494/03

by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission

(21 February 2003)

Subject: Support for solar power

What is the Commission’s latest estimate of the contribution of solar power to meeting energy needs in
each EU Member State?

The German Government has recently announced that state funding for solar heat collectors will be
increased to EUR 125 per square metre in order to increase the area of solar heat collectors to 10 million
square metres by 2006.

What state subsidies and what targets for increasing the use of solar heating have been set by each
Member State?

What financial support is available from the Commission towards the promotion of solar heating, and
what targets have been set for the EU as a whole?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(27 March 2003)

The Commission puts the solar heating potential at between 75 and 100 million square metres by 2010.
This wide range is due to the fact that trends vary greatly from one country to another. Although in 2000
there were 9,5 million square metres installed in Europe and around 20 million are forecast by the end of