EUR-Lex Access to European Union law
This document is an excerpt from the EUR-Lex website
Document 92003E002614
WRITTEN QUESTION E-2614/03 by Albert Maat (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Planting of vineyards with the help of EU funds.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-2614/03 by Albert Maat (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Planting of vineyards with the help of EU funds.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-2614/03 by Albert Maat (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Planting of vineyards with the help of EU funds.
Ú. v. EÚ C 78E, 27.3.2004, p. 747–748
(ES, DA, DE, EL, EN, FR, IT, NL, PT, FI, SV)
|
27.3.2004 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
CE 78/747 |
(2004/C 78 E/0795)
WRITTEN QUESTION E-2614/03
by Albert Maat (PPE-DE) to the Commission
(28 August 2003)
Subject: Planting of vineyards with the help of EU funds
Is the Commission aware that in the Spanish winegrowing area of Toro, vineyards are being planted (with irrigation) with the help of EU funds?
Does this policy not conflict with the restriction of surplus overproduction in viticulture? (1)
Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission
(17 September 2003)
Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine (2) provides for a system of restructuring and conversion of Community vineyards to improve the adjustment of production to market demand.
Under that system, an instrument for funding restructuring and conversion operations was introduced in 2000 under a budget managed by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) Guarantee Section.
That budget is shared out among the various Member States by the Commission on the basis of the criteria laid down in the Council Regulation and its use is strictly governed by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1227/2000 of 31 May 2000 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine, as regards production potential (3).
Therefore the Commission is fully aware of the information to which the Honourable Member refers.
The vineyard restructuring and conversion policy is part of a wine production potential management strategy.
This is why, to prevent the qualitative restructuring of vineyards from having a quantitative impact on the volume of production, the Community rules include a number of safeguards, such as restrictions on vine yields, rules on the transfer of replanting rights between holdings, and the specific problem of vine irrigation. These provisions are applied by the Member States concerned and are verified and checked by the Commission.
(1) See article in the magazine Perswijn, volume 16, issue 4 July 2003.