91997E2735

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2735/97 by José Happart (PSE) to the Commission (1 September 1997)

Subject: Flax production in the United Kingdom

Council Regulation (EEC) No 1308/70 ((OJ L 146, 4.7.1970, p. 1. )) concerns the common organization of the market in flax. A promotional programme defines the strategy of granting aid per hectare to the Member States of the European Union.

With regard to the United Kingdom, how many hectares under flax have received the European Union premium as regards:

- the textiles sector

- the oils sector?

How many hectares are actually harvested?

Which industries process the product?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (16 September 1997)

The areas planted to flax (fibre and oilseed) in the United Kingdom which received Community aid in the last five years are as follows:

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It should be noted that only fibre flax (i.e. flax intended principally for the production of fibres) is covered by Council Regulation (EEC) No 1308/70. From 1993 oilseed flax has received compensatory aid for arable crops.

As to the number of hectares actually harvested, it should be noted that the rules on fibre flax include an obligation to harvest but those on compensatory aid for arable crops (including oilseed flax) do not. The Commission therefore has no statistics on the number of hectares of oilseed flax harvested in the United Kingdom.

The Commission carried out on-the-spot checks on aid to fibre flax in the United Kingdom in September 1995 and January 1996. On one of the three holdings visited, it was found that the harvest had not yet taken place at the end of September. The findings of these checks will be considered in the context of the procedure for the clearance of the accounts of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund - Guarantee Section.

These checks also found that flax straw is not usually processed into fibre. As a result the Commission proposed to the Council the introduction of a system of compulsory contracts between growers and approved processors which would include an undertaking to process. The Council adopted this proposal (Regulation (EC) No 154/97 laying down general rules for granting aid for flax and hemp ((OJ L 27, 30.1.1997. ))). This means that from this year the actual processing of straw into fibre is a condition for the granting of aid.

In the United Kingdom there are two factories which process flax straw into short fibres. These are used mainly to produce paper, geotextiles and some items used in motor vehicle manufacture.