WRITTEN QUESTION No. 734/98 by Paul LANNOYE to the Commission. Ban on 'organic farming' classification in the departments of Aude and Pyrénées Orientales (France)
C 310/120 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 9. 10. 98 (98/C 310/159) WRITTEN QUESTION P-0732/98 by Hiltrud Breyer (V) to the Commission (2 March 1998) Subject: EU funds for Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland since January 1995 What projects and Funds have provided Community resources for Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland since January 1995? Who were the beneficiaries and what sums were involved:- 1. for job promotion and combating long-term unemployment? From the European Regional Development Fund? The European Social Fund. The EAGGF and other EU funds? 2. to promote research and development? In the universities and colleges? In the private sector? 3. to promote relations and trade with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe? 4. from the youth programmes? 5. from the education and training programmes? 6. for womenís projects? 7. for cultural projects? What is the EUís assessment of the success of the measures? How many jobs was it possible to create and for which occupational groups? Are these jobs temporary or long term? Supplementary answer given by Mr Santer on behalf of the Commission (25 May 1998) Because of the length of the answer, which includes a number of tables, the Commission is sending it direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliamentís Secretariat. (98/C 310/160) WRITTEN QUESTION P-0734/98 by Paul Lannoye (V) to the Commission (2 March 1998) Subject: Ban on íorganic farmingí classification in the departments of Aude and Pyre·ne·es Orientales (France) Since 1994, a series of measures taken by the French Ministry of Agriculture and certain prefectures oblige all wine growers in the departments of Aude and Pyre·ne·es Orientales to protect all vines against the Flavescence Dore·e virus with synthetic chemical insecticides. This obligation also applies to wine growers using organic means of production. Certain áorganicí wine growers, having no outbreak of Flavescence Dore·e in their vineyards, refused to apply such preventive treatment. As a result, the Ministry of Agriculture decided to forbid the Ecocertí control body from certifying these wine growersí vines as áorganic farmingí, even though the vineyards in question fully meet, according to the checks carried out by Ecocertí, the provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 (1) on organic production. These wine growers have been forced to cease making any reference to organic production. This withdrawal of the áorganic farmingí label appears to be in flat contradiction to the provisions of Article 9(2) and 12 of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91