WRITTEN QUESTION P-2609/03 by Albert Maat (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Products in respect of which payment of premiums is directly linked to per-hectare yield.
Date: 2003-08-25
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: agricultural guidance, aid per hectare, crop yield, reform of the CAP

C 84 E/32

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

The EU is coordinating its diplomatic activities in particular with IGAD, within the IGAD Partner Forum,
the UN and the US according to its approach towards Sudan that all international actors should work
together in order to maximise the chances for a comprehensive peace agreement.

The Council believes that negotiating a comprehensive peace deal between the GoS and the SPLM/A is the
only way to stop the 20-year conflict. It will continue to accompany Sudan on the path of peace building,
respect of human rights, democracy and development.

(2004/C 84 E/0035)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2609/03

by Albert Maat (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(25 August 2003)

Subject: Products in respect of which payment of premiums is directly linked to per-hectare yield

The consequences of the persistent drought in Europe are becoming increasingly clear. As a result of the
drought, European agricultural yields are well below the annual average. In anticipation of the decoupling
scheduled for 2004 in respect of those products where payment of premiums is directly linked to per-
hectare yield (such as starch potatoes), is the Commission prepared to make payment of the premium not
dependent on per-hectare yield but to make payments on the basis of average harvests in previous years?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(12 September 2003)

The reform of the common agricultural policy adopted by the Council in June 2003 will enter into force
in 2005.

Therefore, the specific provisions on decoupling, the detailed rules for the application of which are
currently being drawn up so that the Commission can adopt a decision in the near future, may not be
applied before then.

It should be pointed out that, with the exception of starch potatoes, all arable crops already qualify for per-
hectare aid decoupled from actual yield.

The Honourable Member’s suggestion to anticipate the decisions on decoupling in the case of starch
potatoes cannot be followed. On the one hand, farmers would receive higher premiums but on the other,
farmers with few or no historical reference amounts would be heavily penalised.

It should also be pointed out that the Commission proposed that the reform should apply from 2004.
However, the Council insisted on postponing it by one year, with the possibility of extending this to 2007.

(2004/C 84 E/0036)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2624/03

by Michel-Ange Scarbonchi (GUE/NGL) to the Council

Subject: Establishment of a European civil protection corps

(2 September 2003)

The fires which recently swept through Europe, destroying several thousand hectares of vegetation,
highlighted the chronic lack of forest fire prevention and control resources. The Commission must respond
to such disasters with the utmost urgency.

While the existence of a European civil protection centre in which the EU Member States plus Iceland,
Norway and Liechtenstein are involved and the setting up on 18 August 2002 of a European Solidarity
Fund are a cause for some hope, given the devastating impact which fires have on the communities and