WRITTEN QUESTION P-2800/03 by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Commission. Implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1227/2001 of 18 June 2001.
Date: 2003-09-17
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Portugal, competence of the Member States, fisherman, fishing industry, interpretation of the law, tax on income, tax system, unemployment insurance

20.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 70 E/141

Can the Council say:

1. whether it is aware that the electoral committee now consists of five members of the present socialist

majority and only two members of the democratic opposition;

2. whether it does not consider that the present composition of the electoral committee is unjust and

may arouse serious suspicions of partiality;

3. whether it does not consider it appropriate at this point to set up a body to monitor all the operations

involved in the election to be held on 10 October?

Reply

(8 December 2003)

is fully aware of the importance of the local elections in Albania which took place on
The Council
12 October 2003. In its Conclusions of 29 September 2003 the Council (External Relations) ‘emphasized
that the orderly conduct of fair local elections in October is part of the process to bring Albania closer to
the EU’.

The local elections in Albania on 12 October 2003, including the implementation of the new Electoral
Code and the performance of the Electoral Committee, were monitored by the OSCE/ODIHR Election
Observation Mission to which many EU Member States have already contributed monitors. An international
assessment on the conduct of the local elections in Albania will be provided shortly after the elections.

(2004/C 70 E/145)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2800/03

by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Commission

(17 September 2003)

Subject: Implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1227/2001 of 18 June 2001

The Portuguese tax authorities have recently informed recipients of compensation for temporary cessation
of the activities of vessels and crew members operating under the Fisheries Agreement between the
European Community and Morocco (Regulation (EC) No 1227/2001 (1)) that they are liable to personal
income tax.

1.
Does the Commission believe that the compensation granted should be viewed as ‘unemployment
benefit’, which under Portuguese tax law is exempt from income tax, or does it consider instead that the
compensation falls into a different category and is such that it should be taxed as described above?

2.
Does the Commission think that the principle of equality before the law, as laid down in the
European Charter of Fundamental Rights, allows different amounts to be allocated to citizens who,
although they are nationals of different countries, Portugal and Spain, are also European citizens?

3.
Does the Commission not believe that the Community legislation on the FIFG, whereby Community
measures must be financed in part by national funding, might be rendered meaningless in practice if the
amount of the national contribution were to be offset fully or to some extent by a tax charge?

4.
Does the Commission not think that, as a matter of urgency, it should approach the Portuguese
authorities to clarify its position so as to enable recipients of compensation to understand what actual
support they are entitled to receive?

(1) OJ L 168, 23.6.2001, p. 1.

C 70 E/142

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

20.3.2004

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(24 October 2003)

the Fisheries Agreement with Morocco the Council adopted Regulation
Following non-renewal of
(EC) No 2561/2001 (1) in order to encourage conversion action for fishermen and vessels that until 1999
had relied on it. Regulation (EC) No 1227/2001 (2) had already, in order to adjust the legal framework to
‘Morocco’ aid needs, waived certain provisions of Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 (3).

The legal basis of the compensation granted to fishermen for temporary cessation of their activity is
Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 of 17 December 1999, last amended by Council Regulation
(EC) No 2369/2002 of 20 December 2002 (4).

Under the terms of that Article it falls to the national managing authorities to determine, using the relevant
parameters, the actual compensation to be paid in each individual case. It is in that context that the
compensation granted to Spanish and to Portuguese fishermen has been set at different levels.

As provided for by Community rules (5), this compensation is paid with no reduction made. But the
taxation of income is a matter for the Member States and it is up to them to take account of their own
rules when determining compensation levels.

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 2561/2001 of 17 December 2001 aiming to promote the conversion of fishing vessels
fishermen that were, up to 1999, dependent on the Fishing Agreement with Morocco, OJ L 344,

and of
28.12.2001.

(2) Council Regulation (EC) No 1227/2001 of 18 June 2001 derogating from certain provisions of Regulation
(EC) No 2792/1999 laying down the detailed rules and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in
the fisheries sector, OJ L 168, 23.6.2001.

(3) Council Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 of 17 December 1999, laying down the detailed rules and arrangements

regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector, OJ L 337, 30.12.1999.

(4) OJ L 358, 31.12.2002.
(5) Article 32 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provisions on the

Structural Funds, OJ L 161, 26.6.1999.

(2004/C 70 E/146)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2824/03

by Marie Isler Béguin (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(18 September 2003)

Subject: A28 motorway and the Habitats directive

It is quite obvious from the information available that construction of the A28 motorway has resumed (cid:1)
in particular, the excavation work being carried out over a 40-kilometre stretch running from north of
Tours to the Loire valley in the Sarthe.

This clearly demonstrates the French authorities’ intention to continue working in the area located between
Montabon and Ecommoy without waiting for the Commission to analyse the replies which it has received
from France concerning the Commission’s reasoned opinion of 21 December 2001 on the destruction of
the habitats and the breeding grounds of a priority species listed in Annex IV of Directive 92/43 (cid:1)
namely, the Osmoderma eremita.

In view of the urgency of the matter, would the Commission state what action it intends to take before the
motorway construction work reaches the point of no return?

Can the Commission provide assurances that it was not pressurised by the French Government into
‘freezing’ the disputes relating to the Birds and Habitats directives until the next European elections?