WRITTEN QUESTION E-2327/03 by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. System for paying compensation for mountainous and disadvantaged regions in Greece.
Date: 2003-07-16
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing arrangements, Greece, aid per hectare, aid to agriculture, cartography, farmers' income, hill farming, utilised agricultural area

13.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 65 E/133

which Community law does not apply. Accordingly, there is no infringement because the bay has not been
restored. The complainant has been informed of this and told that the departments involved intend to
propose that the Commission close the complaint file for lack of evidence that the applicable Community
law has been infringed.

The Commission has asked the Spanish authorities for information on the possibility of the project being
co-financed from the European Regional Development Fund or from the Cohesion Fund, but has yet to
receive their reply.

(2004/C 65 E/148)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2327/03

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(16 July 2003)

Subject: System for paying compensation for mountainous and disadvantaged regions in Greece

It has been reported that, as part of the payment of compensation for mountainous and disadvantaged
regions in Greece, a system for measuring agricultural land has been adopted which fails to take into
account the structure of the terrain. Farmers and stockbreeders consider that the system in question is
unfair to them, since it ignores hillocks and depressions, so that the overall area registered is substantially
smaller than it should be.

Will the Commission give its views on this matter and say whether this system was adopted on its own
initiative or on that of the Greek government?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(18 September 2003)

The question referred to above concerns the system used for measuring agricultural land for the payment
of compensation for mountainous and disadvantaged regions in Greece which, failing to consider the
topological structure of the terrain, seems to penalise farmers and stockbreeders whose parcels present
hillocks and depressions, not taken into account in the measurement of the area.

In the first place, it should be noted that the issue of area measurement does not relate alone to the
compensatory allowances for less-favoured areas, but more generally to all kinds of Community grants
paid on the basis of surfaces of agricultural land. In fact, the control system required for the determination
of the areas eligible for aid under the Common Agricultural Policy is based on an Integrated Administrative
and Control System (IACS) (cid:1) and, in particular, a Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) (cid:1) which, under
Community legislation, all Member States are required to have in place.

Under the specific Regulations relating to the IACS (Council Regulation (EEC) No 3508/1992 of
27 November 1992 establishing an integrated administration and control system for certain Community
aid schemes (1) and Commission Regulation (EC) No 2419/2001 of 11 December 2001 laying down
detailed rules for applying the integrated administration and control system for certain Community aid
schemes established by Council Regulation (EEC) No 3508/92 (2)), Member States are required to measure
land parcels. Article 22(1) of Regulation 2419/2001 relating to the IACS provides that:

Agricultural parcel areas shall be determined by any appropriate means defined by the competent
authority which ensure measurement of a precision at least equivalent to that required for official
measurements under the national rules. The competent authority shall set a tolerance margin taking
account of the measuring method used, the accuracy of the official documents available, local factors
such as slope and shape of parcel and the provisions of paragraph 2.

C 65 E/134

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

13.3.2004

Nevertheless, the position of the Commission in this respect is to use a projected area system for the
measurement of parcels, which,
indeed, does not take into account slopes. This principle has been
discussed since 1993 in expert groups and formulated since in different documents. Therefore, the working
document which gives guidance for on-the-spot checks on areas (cid:1) doc. VI/8388/94 rev. 6, replaced by
doc. AGRI/2254/2003 as from 16 May 2003 (cid:1) states in Chapter 2 that:

The area measured will be expressed as the area projected in the national system used for the IACS/
LPIS.

However, although the method of the projected area does not take account of hillocks and depressions, the
general slope enters into consideration for the definition of the area eligible for certain aid schemes or for
the determination of different rates of payment per hectare (e.g. according to ‘slope classes’).

In this context, it should be noted that the Rural Development measure Compensatory Allowances for less-
favoured areas is an aid introduced in order to compensate farmers for certain disadvantages presented by
determined regions, taking into account for instance that the land involved may be in hilly or mountainous
areas.

As regards the second question presented by the Honourable Member to the Commission, it should be
underlined that the definition of mountainous and other less favoured areas in Greece is exclusively based
on parameters chosen by initiative of the Greek Government, taking into account the conditions defined
for rural
by Chapter V of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on support
development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending and
repealing certain Regulations (3).

(1) OJ L 355, 5.12.1992.
(2) OJ L 327, 12.12.2001.
(3) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999.

(2004/C 65 E/149)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2333/03

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(16 July 2003)

Subject: Prevalence of birth defects near crematoriums

According to a study recently published by the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, the risk of congenital
abnormalities and stillbirths is greater if the mother lives near a crematorium or incineration plant. British
scientists studied 245 000 births in Cumbria between 1956 and 1993. The study revealed that the risk of
abnormalities of the spinal cord (particularly spina bifida) was 17 % higher in the case of women who had
spent their pregnancy in the vicinity of a crematorium. There was also a significant increase in the
probability of their babies’ suffering from heart defects.

Is the Commission aware of the increased risks run by babies whose mothers live near crematoriums?

Has the Commission already taken action to reduce these risks, or what proposals to this end are planned?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(11 September 2003)

The Commission is not aware of the results of the epidemiological study conducted by the Newcastle-
upon-Tyne University.