WRITTEN QUESTION No. 4063/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. IRAP (a regional tax on production)
17. 7. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 223/49 The inclusion of additional sinks such as agricultural soils and other land use change and forestry activities will be considered by future conferences of the parties. In order to resolve remaining scientific uncertainties and methodological problems associated with the inclusion of additional sink categories, the Commission actively contributes to the ongoing work of the intergovernmental panel on climate change and the relevant subsidiary bodies of the Convention. The ongoing work in the field of áenvironmental indicators and green accountingí takes into account the valuation of the carbon binding process of forests and the changes in land use in the Member States. At the global level the Commission works through a number of programmes and projects to support forest conservation and sustainable management of forests. These programmes address a variety of environment and development issues, including conservation of biological diversity, use of renewable resources and the aspect of carbon sinks. 2. 1. For some years the Commission has generally been pursuing a policy which favours renewable energies, on energy, environmental and employment grounds. This has resulted, inter alia, in such Community research-development and demonstration programmes as Joule, Thermie and FAIR, which have done much to help create an industry with major potential (including on export markets), as well as the Altener programme, which has supported many renewable energy infrastructure projects. As for the ágreen fuelsí mentioned by the Honourable Member, the Commission would point out that the common agricultural policy (CAP) lays down measures concerning energy crops. Specifically, Article 7(4) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1765/92 of 30 June 1992 establishing a support system for producers of certain arable crops (1) provides for the possibility of non-food crops on fallow land. 2. 2. The Commission, aware of the importance of energy and environment issues, recently produced a White Paper (Energy for the future: Renewable sources of energy (2)) containing a set of proposals and measures in the form of an action plan for renewables. The plan includes quantified objectives and costs and forecast benefits, as well as the Commissionís undertaking to ensure ongoing monitoring. The Community strategy and the 2010 action plan for renewable sources of energy, as presented in the White Paper, set out to double the share of renewables in the energy balance to 12% in 2010. Biomass plays an important part. Energy use of biomass includes energy crops, rational use of forests, agricultural and forestry residues and organic waste of agricultural origin and from the agri-food industry, inter alia. The Commission believes that, in addition to its energy objectives, this initiative also contributes significantly towards the Kyoto objectives. (1) OJ L 181, 1. 7. 1992. (2) COM(97) 599 final. (98/C 223/58) WRITTEN QUESTION E-4063/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (14 January 1998) Subject: IRAP (a regional tax on production) The added value on which the tax IRAP is to be levied in Italy includes the salaries of employees and the interest paid on debts and company loans, in other words on money which is not at the disposal of the owner of a business. Can the Commission say whether this will cause serious problems as regards fair competition between Italian businesses and those in other Community countries?