WRITTEN QUESTION P-0956/04 by Brian Crowley (UEN) to the Commission. Decoupling, farm retirement and families.
Date: 2004-03-23
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: aid to agriculture, family farming, farmers' income, reform of the CAP, tenant farming, transfer of farms

C 88 E/718

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

(2004/C 88 E/0738)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0956/04

by Brian Crowley (UEN) to the Commission

(23 March 2004)

Subject: Decoupling, farm retirement and families

Will the Commission confirm that it has received an appeal from the West Cork group of retired farmers
regarding the damaging consequences of decoupling on the return of leased land, and does it realise that
the rights of these farmers (cid:1) who entered the early retirement scheme in good faith (cid:1) to hand over this
land to their sons and daughters as their rightful inheritance to develop to its full potential has been
seriously affected? What action does it intend to take to ensure that their sons and daughters can inherit
farms which are capable of providing a proper livelihood?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(21 April 2004)

for

The Common Agricultural Policy reform is addressed to active farmers. No provisions are established to
ensure payment entitlements
landowners who have retired during the reference period and
consequently whose land has been leased. The payment entitlements will be given to the tenants who
exercised an agricultural activity in the reference period on the land in question. As confirmed by the
European Court of Justice in a settled case-law, farmers cannot have a legitimate expectation that an
existing situation which is capable of being altered by the Community institutions in the exercise of their
discretionary power will be maintained.

Farmers can produce without entitlements or, but they are not obliged to, buy entitlements on the market
and, of course, they can continue to lease the land to farmers who have entitlements but not enough land.

Nevertheless, there is no intention to disqualify such farm families from future payment entitlements or to
prevent that sons and daughters can inherit farms which are capable of providing a proper livelihood.

The Commission is aware of the fact that farmers that participated in early retirement schemes may have
leased their farm temporarily with the idea that eventually a son or daughter would take over the farm.

In order to ensure that the transfer of the holding or part of it within a family can easily take place, the
Commission, in close collaboration with the Irish authorities, has developed a solution to avoid a situation
in which children would be prevented from taking over a family farm that was leased out during the
reference period. Those persons will be considered to be in a special situation within the meaning of
Article 42 (4) of 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 (1). As a result, in the Commission’s implementing Regulation in process of being adopted,
provision is made for the allocation to persons in such a situation of payment entitlements out of the
national reserve if they take over the farm.

(1) OJ L 270, 21.10.2003.

(2004/C 88 E/0739)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0985/04

by Antonio Di Pietro (ELDR) to the Commission

(24 March 2004)

Subject: Disappearance of children in Mozambique

Since July 2003 there have been alarming reports of street children disappearing in Mozambique
(particularly in the Nampula area), to be sold and murdered, in some cases so that their organs may be
used in the illegal transplant organ trade.