WRITTEN QUESTION E-3938/03 by Elisabeth Jeggle (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Use of surveying firms, contracted by the public authorities, to measure plot areas in connection with participation in EU set-aside schemes.
Date: 2003-12-19
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Germany, administrative check, administrative formalities, aid per hectare, area of holding, land register, set-aside

C 84 E/268

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) countries, China, Russia, the United States, Korea and
Japan. These led to a fruitful exchange of information and experience, and even, in some cases, significant
changes to the legislation of some of the countries mentioned.

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 1383/2003 of 22 July 2003 concerning customs action against goods suspected of
infringing certain intellectual property rights and the measures to be taken against goods found to have infringed
such rights, OJ L 196, 2.8.2003.

(2) OJ L 11, 15.1.2002.
(3) COM(2000) 789 final.

(2004/C 84 E/0315)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3938/03

by Elisabeth Jeggle (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(19 December 2003)

Subject: Use of surveying firms, contracted by the public authorities, to measure plot areas in connection

with participation in EU set-aside schemes

When farmers take part in EU set-aside schemes, the need to measure plots arises when the area of land in
respect of which set-aside funding has been requested is not identical with the area on the plans held by
the land register.

This prompts the following questions, which concern surveying firms contracted by the public authorities
in Germany:

(cid:1) Are there laws stipulating how proof should be provided that the correct area of land has been set

aside?

(cid:1) In the case outlined above, is the applicant required to have the plot of land in question measured?

(cid:1) In the case outlined above, who can or must be given the task of measuring the plot in question?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(16 February 2004)

The support system for certain arable crops established by Regulation (EC) No 1251/1999 (1), which laid
down the set-aside requirement for each producer requesting an area payment, is subject to an integrated
administration and control system (IACS) under Council Regulation (EEC) No 3508/92 (2) and Commission
Regulation (EC) No 2419/2001 (3). From 1 January 2005 onwards and with regard to the aid schemes
introduced under the 2003 reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP), the legal basis for IACS will
be Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 (4). The Commission Regulation laying down detailed rules for applying
that Regulation in this respect has not yet been adopted.

Article 6(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 2419/2001 stipulates that the aid application submitted by the
farmer must contain particulars permitting identification of all agricultural parcels on the holding, their
is irrigated. The parcels included in an aid
area,
application must therefore be declared correctly, and the farmer will be penalised if a check carried out by
the relevant authorities reveals over-declaration.

location, use and whether the agricultural parcel

The farmer may consider it necessary to have parcels measured in order to fulfil the correct declaration
requirement. This task may be performed by anyone properly qualified to do so.

The authorities designated by the Member States to carry out IACS checks are responsible for ensuring that
the information contained in aid applications meets the conditions for granting aid, of which the set-aside
requirement forms part.

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All applications submitted by farmers must undergo an administrative check. This enables cross-checks to
be made, firstly to identify parcels declared twice for the same aid and, secondly, to compare the parcels
declared in aid applications against the reference parcels contained in the agricultural parcel identification
system in order to verify their eligibility for aid.

In addition, at least 5 % of applications must be subject to an on-the-spot check in order to verify whether
the parcels are actually eligible and whether the set-aside rules have indeed been complied with.

During on-the-spot checks, parcel area is determined by any appropriate means stipulated by the authority
responsible in the Member State in compliance with the Regulations referred to above. Hence there is
some latitude as regards determining how and by whom the area of parcels is to be measured, subject to
retention of overall control and responsibility.

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 1251/1999 of 17 May 1999 establishing a support system for producers of certain

arable crops, OJ L 160, 26.6.1999.

(2) Council Regulation (EEC) No 3508/92 of 27 November 1992 establishing an integrated administration and control

system for certain Community aid schemes, OJ L 355, 5.12.1992.

(3) 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, OJ L 327, 12.12.2001.

(4) Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 of 29 September 2003 establishing common rules for direct support
schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers and amending
Regulations (EEC) No 2019/93, (EC) No 1452/2001, (EC) No 1453/2001, (EC) No 1454/2001, (EC) No 1868/94,
(EEC) No 2358/71 and (EC) No 2529/2001,
(EC) No 1251/1999,
OJ L 270, 21.10.2003.

(EC) No 1673/2000,

(EC) No 1254/1999,

(2004/C 84 E/0316)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3940/03

by Daniel Hannan (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(19 December 2003)

Subject: Distortions in the sugar trade

Could the Commission explain how it proposes to tackle distortions in the sugar trade which mean that
British confectioners employing a large number of people must pay 10 % more for sugar than competitors
operating within the single market, and up to three times the rate of their global competitors operating
outside it? Does this state of affairs not make a mockery of the EU’s purported desire to create stability in
employment and a genuine single market for trade purposes?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(5 February 2004)

The price variations that exist in the single market for every product reflect variation in the play of supply
and demand from one place to another. The common organisation for the sugar market keeps prices in
the Community at a considerably higher level than on the world market but also incorporates certain
measures designed to soften the impact of these high prices on enterprises using sugar in the Community.
Thus import duties are levied on food products with a high sugar content, export refunds are granted on
sugar used in food products and production refunds are granted to the chemical and pharmaceutical
industries on the sugar they use.

Aware nonetheless that there are constraints both internal and external on the organisation that necessitate
a reform,
in September 2003 we sent the Council and Parliament a Communication entitled Accom-
plishing a sustainable agricultural model for Europe through the reformed CAP (cid:1) the tobacco, olive oil,
cotton and sugar sectors (1). This presents three types of option for the future of the Union’s sugar