WRITTEN QUESTION E-0607/00 by Jorge Hernández Mollar (PPE-DE) to the Commission. EU social and economic protection cover for Malaga's shellfishers.
C 26 E/70 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 26. 1. 2001 Finally, will it give details of the progress of the project entitled Improving health conditions in 4. 24 villages in the diocese of Daloa ü Costa DíAvorioí, which was submitted on 7 May 1999 and given the reference ONG/PVD/1998/IT, but in respect of which the organisers have so far received no reply from the Commission? Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission (30 March 2000) The Commission is forwarding direct to the Honourable Member and to the Secretariat General of the Parliament lists of all those projects which have been submitted under this budget line for the years 1998 and 1999 and of those which received funding. The Commission tries to respect the limit of six months for decision on projects laid down in Council Regulation No 1658 of 17 July 1998. New management measures are being put into place in the year 2000 to try to ensure respect of this six month deadline. However in recent years this has not been possible due to the numbers of projects received and insufficiency of staff resources. Moreover the majority of non governmental organisation (NGO) proposals require further dialogue following comments and suggestions received from the Commission delegations, geographic units and technical experts which can lead to further delays. In the past, the selection procedure was on the basis of an assessment of each project by the delegation, geographic unit and technical experts. A decision was made to accept or reject the project on the basis of these assessments. In some cases a project is rejected because of the clear ineligibility of the NGO or project under the general conditions for cofinancing. New general conditions for cofinancing were agreed by the Commission in January 2000. In the future, implementing the recommendations of the vade mecum on grant management, the Commission will use a call for proposals with the establishment of selection committees. However, consultation of the delegations and the geographic units will continue to play an important role. There is at present a carry over of approximately 926 projects from 1999 for a value of 317,6 M€. It is intended to process these in the first half of 2000. Decisions made will be verified by selection committees in the pre-selection and final selection phase following consultations with the delegations and geographic units. The project referred to (ONG/PVD/1998/258) is under appraisal but had to be carried over from 1999 due to lack of funds. A decision will be made in the first half of 2000. The NGOs are being kept fully informed of developments in the management of the budget line through the Commissionís own recently established web-site for NGOs (europa. eu. int/comm/development) and through the liaison committee of NGOs and its national platforms. (2001/C 26 E/088) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0607/00 by Jorge HernÆndez Mollar (PPE-DE) to the Commission (3 March 2000) Subject: EU social and economic protection cover for Malagaís shellfishers Over five hundred shellfishers have been affected by the Andalusian regional governmentís decision to close off four fishing grounds in the province of Malaga because the toxicity levels in shellfish caught there makes them unfit for consumption. 26. 1. 2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 26 E/71 This decision is nothing short of a disaster for the working lives of appropriateness of the measure in health terms. the fishermen, whatever the What provisions does the common fisheries policy make for social and economic cover for workers like the Malaga fishermen, whose working lives have been catastrophically affected by factors entirely outwith their control? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (25 April 2000) The Commission shares the Honourable Memberís concern about the Malaga fishermen affected by closure of the shellfish fishery for health reasons. It points out that under the terms of Article 16 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 of 17 December 1999 laying down the detailed rules and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector (1) Member States may grant compensa- tion to fishermen for temporary cessation of activities under unforeseeable circumstances, in particular cessation for biological reasons. Such support is additional to that of the general structural measures for fleet adjustment, modernisation and renewal. Each case of restructuring a fleet affected by reduced fishing potential requires approval by the Commission following examination of the proposal in the light of the rules applicable. (1) OJ L 337, 30. 12. 1999. (2001/C 26 E/089) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0612/00 by Dirk Sterckx (ELDR) to the Commission (3 March 2000) Subject: Need for European regulations on the use of pesticides in horticulture According to reports, Belgium permits the use in horticulture of certain plant protection products (tolyfluanil and myclobutanil) that are prohibited in France. On the other hand, there are certain plant protection products that are permitted in France but prohibited in Belgium. On the basis of its national legislation France in some cases holds Belgian exports of horticultural products. The Belgian products are thus placed in an unfavourable light in France, which can have far-reaching consequences for Belgian exports. The Belgian authorities, however, do not carry out any comparable checks on French horticultural products. 1. 2. Is there European legislation on the use of plant protection products in horticulture? If so, what provisions does this legislation contain? If not, does the Commission not consider that there is a need to draw up European provisions so as 3. to prevent distortions of competition between the Member States? Apart from whether or not there is European legislation, under what circumstances is France 4. permitted to prevent or hinder the import of Belgian horticultural products? Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission (10 April 2000) 1 - 3. The use of plant protection products is regulated by Council Directive 91/414/EEC of 15 July 1991 (1) concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market. The main objectives of this Directive are to (a) ensure a high level of protection of human health, for the consumer and for the