WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2305/97 by José VALVERDE LÓPEZ to the Commission. Special drought measures
11. 3. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 76/93 The Council established, on 3 March 1997, a Community negotiating position for the negotiations on a protocol to be decided in Kyoto, Japan (December 1997). It also decided that á. an emission index for each Member State in the year 2010 shall guide the determination of the contribution of each Member State towards the reduction the Community as a whole will have to realise in 2010 on the basis of the outcome of the protocol negotiationsí. The index for Ireland is +15% in 2010 compared to 1990. Whatever the outcome of the Kyoto protocol might be, common and coordinated policies and measures, in addition to national measures, will have to be implemented in the future. The Commission will submit soon a broad based communication on climate change including these elements. (1) OJ L 167, 9. 7. 1993. (2) COM(96) 369. (98/C 76/187) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2305/97 by Jose· Valverde Lo·pez (PPE) to the Commission (3 July 1997) Subject: Special drought measures Various regions of Europe are suffering from persistent drought which, in addition to irreversibly reducing the yield of certain crops, has placed many livestock farmers who do not have sufficient grazing land in an extremely difficult situation. The common agricultural policy should be flexible and should respond to day-to-day problems. Could the Commission adopt derogatory measures to enable land which is due to remain fallow to be used for grazing or for growing fodder? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (30 July 1997) The Commission does not have any information leading it to conclude that there is any shortage of fodder owing to irreversible damage due to drought in certain parts of the Community. It has no intention of adopting any derogatory measures for this year, i. e. 15 January to 31 August 1997, allowing grazing or fodder production on land fallowed to meet set-aside obligations under the support scheme for growers of certain arable crops. The Commission agrees with the Honourable Member that the common agricultural policy should be flexible enough to respond to problems requiring speedy resolution. In fact the Community arable crop aid scheme includes provisions allowing special treatment for climatic reasons. (98/C 76/188) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2307/97 by Laura Gonza·lez A· lvarez (GUE/NGL), Angela Sierra Gonza·lez (GUE/NGL), Mar ·a Sornosa Mart ·nez (GUE/NGL) and Antoni Gutie·rrez D ·az (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (3 July 1997) Subject: Establishment of a directive on equal rights for homosexuals and lesbians in the EC In 1994, Parliament adopted a report by the Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs on equal rights for homosexuals and lesbians in the EC (A3-0028/94), the rapporteur for which was Claudia Roth