WRITTEN QUESTION E-0485/04 by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Commission. EU forest strategy: Forest Focus.
Date: 2004-02-23
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European forestry policy, civil defence, environmental monitoring, environmental risk prevention, fire protection

C 84 E/602

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

All the rural development measures, including the compensatory allowance for less favoured areas, will be
re-examined in preparation for the Regulation on rural development support during the programming
period after 2006.

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999.
(2) Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds, OJ L 103, 25.4.1979.
(3) Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora,

OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.

(2004/C 84 E/0677)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0485/04

by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(23 February 2004)

Subject: EU forest strategy: ‘Forest Focus’

Fires are one of the main causes of desertification and loss of biodiversity in European forests. The fires
which broke out last year caused genuinely traumatic situations in the Member States affected, but there
are few Community measures in place to combat
the problem, which is becomingly increasingly
widespread. The new ‘Forest Focus’ regulation on the monitoring of forests is virtually the only genuinely
‘Community’ instrument geared to combating fires, since corresponding rural development actions are
carried out in isolation and are not structured at European level.

Will the Commission make good this deficit in its forthcoming report on the EU’s forest strategy?

If so, can it list the measures that are being considered?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(31 March 2004)

fire prevention measures are currently supported by Regulation (EC) No 2152/2003 of

the
Forest
Parliament and of
forests and
environmental interactions in the Community (Forest Focus) (1)) and by the Rural Development Regulation
(Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on support for rural development from the
European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) (2)).

the Council of 17 November 2003 concerning the monitoring of

The forest fire prevention measures included in the Forest Focus and Rural Development Regulations must
into account the
conform to the forest fire protection plans of the Member States and take, thereby,
specific priorities and needs of the different regions. Moreover,
the forestry measures of the Rural
Development Regulation provide an integrated approach to sustainable forest management. As such, this
approach considers forest fire prevention,
in areas of high and medium fire risk, as an indispensable
element in the development of silvicultural systems aiming at sustainable forest management.

To improve the preparedness of the national forest fire-fighting operational centres, the Commission
developed a series of monitoring instruments, which provide for forecasting fire risk levels on a daily basis
and at pan-European level. The main results are forest fire risk maps, which are delivered day by day to the
competent national authorities and services, as well as to the Commission’s Monitoring and Information
Centre established under Council Decision 2001/792/EC, Euratom, of 23 October 2001, establishing a
Community mechanism to facilitate reinforced cooperation in civil protection assistance interventions (3).
This centre coordinates the mutual assistance interventions whenever such help is requested. Moreover,
after the 2003 fires, the Commission started offering training courses for national intervention teams and
it is organising a major forest fire exercise in order to better respond in future to disasters.

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/603

The forthcoming report on the implementation of the EU Forestry Strategy, set up by Council Resolution
of 15 December 1998 (4), is intended to examine the achievements of the ongoing forest actions also in
relation to the forest fire problem and, if appropriate, draw conclusions about possible improvements.
At the present stage, this report is in preparation and finalisation is foreseen before October 2004.

(1) OJ L 324, 11.12.2003.
(2) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999.
(3) OJ L 297, 15.11.2001.
(4) OJ C 56, 26.2.1999.

(2004/C 84 E/0678)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0486/04

by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(23 February 2004)

Subject: The new CAP and direct aid to the enlargement countries

The agricultural agreement on the accession of the eastern European countries to the European Union will
allow these countries to grant direct aid to farmers.

Given that the accession countries will be able to combine this direct aid with rural development funding
and national aid during the transitional period, does the Commission have full information on the overall
amounts of direct aid which farmers will receive in each of the new Member States?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(14 April 2004)

Farmers in the new Member States acceding to the EU as from 1 May 2004 will be eligible for direct
payments. However, during a transitional period these direct payments are phased in; starting at a 25 %
level in 2004 to a 100 % level in 2013 (1). On top of the EU funded direct payments, the new Member
States may pay complementary national direct payments during a transitional period.

The complementary national direct payments are subject to several limitations. In any case, the EU direct
payments and the complementary national payments together may not be more than 100 % of the level of
the EU direct payments. Furthermore, the programmes for complementary national direct payments have
to be approved by the Commission before they may be implemented. In the years 2004 to 2006, the
the national complementary direct payments can be co-financed from the rural
expenditure for
development allocations of the new Member States. However, co-financing is only available up to 40 %
of the EU direct payments level and only 20 % of the rural development allocations may be used for that
purpose.

Apart from the direct payments and in accordance with the Act of Accession, Latvia and Cyprus may grant
nationally financed State aids to specific sectors during a transitional period. These State aids are limited by
precise, per sector maxima in the Act of Accession (Act of Accession, Annex II, Chapter 6 Agriculture,
Point 27 (f) (2)).

Measures under Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 (3), as adapted in particular by the Act of
Accession, are aimed at projects or activities that need to be supported in the context of the EU’s rural
development policy;
in holdings and food processing, undertakings to improve the
environment, farming in less favoured areas, semi-subsistence aid, etc.

investment

i.e.