WRITTEN QUESTION E-1663/03 by Joan Vallvé (ELDR) to the Commission. Support for horticultural production.
Date: 2003-05-19
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: aid to agriculture, horticulture, land use, reform of the CAP

C 33 E/152

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.2.2004

Regarding the statistics of NOX emissions in Austria, the exact percentage of the decrease of NOX emissions
by lorries transitting Austria must be weighed against many factors like: the amount of pollution caused by
domestic traffic or by road transport vehicles other than lorries, the emissions performance of a well-
maintained engine compared to a poorly-maintained engine, the conditions in which the test cycles of the
new engines are made, etc.

In the present discussion of the prolongation of the ecopoint system, the idea of having the most polluting
lorries excluded from the transit via Austria has been discussed by both Parliament and Council. Whereas
more environmentally friendly lorries such as EURO IV would be exempted from ecopoints.

The emissions should in the first place be regulated by adaquate standards in the laws (EURO-
classification). Moreover, the Commission has the intention to present shortly a sectoral proposal for a
Directive on charging for the use of road infrastructure, amending Directive 1999/62/EC (2).

It is intended to contribute to bringing about a level playing field in the transport market, while ensuring
that specificities of sensitive zones and corridors are taken into account.

(1) Proposal of the Commission, OJ 120 E, 24.4.2001; approved by the Parliament on 1 September 2001.
(2) Directive 1999/62/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 1999 on the charging of heavy goods

vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures, OJ L 187, 20.7.1999.

(2004/C 33 E/149)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1663/03

by Joan Vallvé (ELDR) to the Commission

(19 May 2003)

Subject: Support for horticultural production

Article 53, entitled ‘Agricultural use of the land’, of the proposal for a Council regulation establishing
common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and support schemes for
producers of certain crops (1), states that ‘farmers may use their land for any agricultural activity except for
permanent crops’.

This means that farmers who have hitherto used their land for arable crops, and who will receive a
decoupled subsidy once the new regulation has come into force, will be able to use these areas for fruit
and vegetables without consequently losing their entitlement to this support.

This will give rise to a serious distortion in the functioning of the sector, given that traditional fruit and
vegetable producers who do not receive any direct support will be competing in the same market with
new producers who were previously producing arable crops and do receive this type of subsidy.

Account must also be taken of the fact that, under the current regulations, fruit and vegetables produced
on this land will also be eligible for the already scant resources which the EU sets aside for the fruit and
vegetable sector, and which will henceforth have to be shared among a larger number of farmers.

This is even more surprising bearing in mind that, in the earlier version of the reform proposal, i.e. the
Commission communication to the Council and the European Parliament of 10 July 2002 (2),
this
possibility was ruled out and a clear indication was given, on page 20 of the English version in the section
headed ‘scope of the scheme’, that ‘at this stage, cultivation of fruit and vegetables would not be eligible for
support under the new scheme’.

Furthermore, neither the recitals nor the explanatory memorandum to COM(2003) 23 final make any
reference to the reasons for this change.

Why has the Commission decided to propose allowing the cultivation of vegetables in areas which will
receive decoupled support once the CAP reform has come into force?

(1) COM(2003) 23 final.
(2) COM(2002) 394 final.

6.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 33 E/153

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(17 June 2003)

On 21 January 2003 the Commission sent its proposed reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP) (1)
to the Council of ministers of agriculture of the Union and to Parliament. The proposals for regulations
included one establishing common rules for direct support schemes and support schemes for producers of
certain crops.

Article 53 of that draft Regulation proposes a ban on cultivating permanent crops (e.g. fruit trees, vines,
hot-house crops) on land eligible for the direct payment. This means the proposal currently being
discussed by the Council and Parliament would allow the growing of annual fruit crops and horticultural
crops.

A number of representatives of traditional producers of fruits and vegetables have already expressed
concern about possible distortions of competition which this authorisation might provoke.

Because of the difficulties of carrying out checks, the Commission would have preferred to authorise the
growing of the crops in question on land eligible for the direct payment to the exclusion proposed in the
July 2002 Communication on the medium-term review.

However, at the meeting of the Council of Union ministers of agriculture in Luxembourg on 8 April 2003,
the Member of the Commission responsible for agriculture indicated his willingness to solve this problem.

During that Council meeting, he stated that a producer who received the single payment per farm should
normally be free to take decisions about what to do with the land. However, it was possible that in some
regions this could create competitive disadvantages for traditional producers specialising in fruit and
vegetables. It therefore seemed acceptable to ensure that the Member States could ban the growing of fruit
and vegetables on land eligible for a direct payment.

(1) COM(2003) 23 final.

(2004/C 33 E/150)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1683/03

by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Commission

(15 May 2003)

Subject: Clarification of Council Regulation No 2340/2002

Council Regulation No 2340/2002 (1) is not in line with the Commission proposal in the part concerning
compliance with the provision of Council Regulation No 2027/95 (2) of 15 June 1995, in the wording
given it by Regulation No 149/1999 (3) of 19 January 1999 and as referred to in the Commission’s reply
to Written Question E-1849/02 (4), regarding the limitation of the fishing effort of the UK and Spanish
fleets for the species in question in the area under Portuguese jurisdiction or sovereignty in division ICES-X
or CECAF 3.4.

Given that, as the Commission stated in its reply to Written Question P-0026/03 (5), the above-mentioned
limitation of the fishing effort is currently fully in force, the omission has no legal consequences.

In this connection, does the Commission not consider it necessary to clarify the matter so as to ensure
compliance with Community law and prevent irreparable damage being caused to the biological balance of
the fish stocks in the areas concerned, in view of the full documentation that has been produced by the
scientific community in publications of which the Commission is aware, as is clearly recognised in its
proposal COM(2002) 739?

(1) OJ L 356, 31.12.2002, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 199, 24.8.1995, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 18, 23.1.1999, p. 3.
(4) OJ C 28 E, 6.2.2003, p. 148.
(5) OJ C 222 E, 18.9.2003, p. 138.