WRITTEN QUESTION E-2536/03 by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Outcome of the CAP reform compromise for Portugal.
Date: 2003-07-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Portugal, agricultural production policy, cattle, distribution of EU funding, net recipient, reform of the CAP

20.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 70 E/111

procedure the Council deleted remarks from the Preliminary Draft Budget of the European Court of Justice
(budgetary item A-1090) which provided for this weighting to apply to Members of the Court of Justice
‘by analogy to the Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities’.

1. Will the Council say why did it delete these remarks from the Budget of the Court of Justice?

2.
How does it view the fact that, according to the Commission (see the answer to my Written
Question P-1508/03 (1)), members of the Court of Justice are still transferring their salaries in the current
financial year to benefit from the weighting? Does it endorse the continuation of this practice?

3.
How does it evaluate the statement by Vice-President Kinnock in the answer to the above Written
Question ‘that the remark on the budget item in question had no effect on the legality of the matter, and
the deletion of the remark had no effect on it either’?

Does it share Mr Kinnock’s view expressed in the answer that the remarks by the Council and

4.
Parliament on the implementation of the expenditure have no effect on the legality of the matter?

5.
Can it confirm that no provision is made for the possiblity of such transfers of salaries in application
of the weightings and that this is not mentioned anywhere in the relevant regualtions on the emoluments
of members of the institutions?

(1) OJ C 65 E, 13.3.2004, p. 83.

Reply

(5 December 2003)

The issue raised by the Honourable Member is currently being considered by the Council’s preparatory
bodies in order to find an appropriate solution.

(2004/C 70 E/112)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2536/03

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Outcome of the CAP reform compromise for Portugal

(29 July 2003)

On 25 and 26 June 2003 the Agriculture Council reached a political agreement on CAP reform.

According to the figures announced by the Portuguese Minister of Agriculture, Portugal will apparently
benefit from a rise in funding of about EUR 168 million a year, of which EUR 33 million will be accounted
for by net transfers resulting from ‘modulation’ and the remainder by the 50 000 tonne increase in the
milk quota, together with 90 000 additional production rights for beef and veal, that is to say EUR 20
million.

These figures have, however, been challenged in the media.

Can the Commission therefore say how Portugal is likely to be affected by the current CAP compromise as
regards:

(cid:1) the level of annual net transfers under the heading of modulation;

(cid:1) the difference in terms of estimated impact between the political agreement in the Council and the

initial Commission proposal as far as modulation is concerned;

(cid:1) the impact of the political agreement in the Council on the beef and veal sector in Portugal, bearing in
mind that there has been no take-up whatsoever of the earlier programme to convert arable land into
livestock units?

C 70 E/112

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

20.3.2004

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(24 September 2003)

It has been estimated by the Commission that, under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform
compromise, modulation will generate around EUR 12 million of funds in Portugal. Applying the agreed
criteria for the distribution of modulated funds across EU-15, the Commission’s estimate matches the
EUR 33 million net transfer figure, reported by the Honourable Member.

The political agreement in the Council changed several parameters for calculating the financial impact of
modulation, which makes comparison with the initial Commission proposal problematical. With the
agreed package, the proposed level of franchise was kept and the modulation mechanism will recompense
net beneficiaries sooner. However, modulation will reach an annual rate of 5 %, rather than 6 % as
proposed. Concerning the redistribution of the modulated funds, 20 % will be allocated directly to the
Member State, in which it was generated, while the remaining 80 % will be distributed according to the
allocation key based on agricultural area, agricultural employment and a prosperity criterion. The net effect
of these changes is that, within the current financial perspectives, the arrangement has been beneficial for
Portugal.

As the Portuguese conversion programme of land currently under arable crops to extensive livestock
farming will de facto be repealed at the entry into force of the single farm payment scheme, Portugal is
allowed to carry out an operation to complete the remaining conversion while taking into account the
specificity of the suckler cow sector in Portugal. As a result, the number of suckler cow premia for
Portugal shall be increased to 416 539 animals. The Commission will undertake a revision of its original
assessment of the impact on Union agriculture of the 2003 CAP Reform once the legal texts have been
adopted by Council.

(2004/C 70 E/113)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2538/03

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(29 July 2003)

Subject: Proposals to do away with the CAP and the Structural Funds (cid:1) ‘Secret report’

On 17 July 2003 the Portuguese newspaper Público and the French newspaper ‘Le Monde’ carried a story
that, at a meeting of the Members of the Commission on 16 July 2003, the Commission President,
Romano Prodi, had unveiled a report in which it was proposed to ‘divert’ the agricultural and structural
policy budgets from their intended purposes and use them instead to finance what is termed the ‘Lisbon
agenda’.

This ‘secret’ report, which the President apparently asked his advisers to produce more than a year ago, is
said to have been drawn up under the responsibility of Michel Sapir.

the proposals it contains are a serious matter, especially the idea of abandoning and
Given that
renationalising the common agricultural policy and structural policy, violating the principles of solidarity
among Member States and economic and social cohesion, can the Commission send me a copy of the
report?

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(29 September 2003)

The report to which the Honourable Member is referring is in the public domain and is not secret. It has
been on the Commission website (1) since it was sent to the Commission President on 17 July 2003.

The report was produced by a group of independent experts asked by the Commission President in
July 2002 to examine all the EU’s economic policy instruments with a view to stimulating discussion on
the future strategies for ensuring rapid growth in an enlarged Union while maintaining stability and
cohesion.

(1) http://europa.eu.int/comm/commissioners/prodi/pdf/agenda_for_growing_europe_en.pdf