WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3346/98 by Kyösti VIRRANKOSKI Bull premiums and lost notifications
6. 11. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 320/43 The proposal is currently being discussed in the relevant Council working group and an interim report has been presented to the December meeting of the Ecofin Council. The Parliament is also discussing its opinion and it is hoped that this will be adopted early in 1999. (1) OJ L 76, 23. 3. 1992. (2) COM(97) 30. (1999/C 320/056) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3346/98 by Kyösti Virrankoski (ELDR) to the Commission (16 November 1998) Subject: Bull premiums and lost notifications In Finland farmers are required to keep a cattle register on their farms. This register must include the time of birth of every calf born and the numbers of their earmarks. In addition farmers must send information to the Agriculture Ministry’s computing centre. No reply is sent acknowledging receipt of the notification. A year ago in January a Finnish farmer sent a letter to the computing centre which went missing. In March he applied for the bull premium, but his application was rejected in October because the statistics centre had no information about these animals, since the letter had gone missing. An inspection was carried out on the farm, at which it was noted that the animals did exist, and that they had been duly listed on the farm’s cattle register. The cattle have since been sold, but the bull premium has not been granted, and the farmer has received no subsidy. A complaint on the matter is pending. In the light of the above, I should like to ask: Is the bull premium paid because beef is produced on a farm or because a letter of notification has been received by the computing centre? Do the cattle register required to be held on farms and the inspection carried out on the spot, carry no weight at all? What does the Commission propose to do to guarantee legal certainty for Finnish farmers, even when the post office or the computing centre has lost the letter of notification? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (15 December 1998) In accordance with Community legislation in both the veterinary and bovine premium field, producers must keep up to date registers of their bovine stock and movements on to and from their holdings. Births and movements of cattle must be notified to the national database. These requirements are intended to provide assurance regarding the health and premium eligibility of bovine animals. Compliance with the rules is ensured by controls conducted by the authorities in each Member State. With a view to establishing eligibility for bovine premium, such controls would include an examination of herd registers and commercial documents. Naturally, given the need to combat fraud and irregularity, Community legislation also envisages sanctions and penalties for cases of non-compliance, but these are designed to be proportionate to the offence committed. (1999/C 320/057) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3376/98 by Anneli Hulthén (PSE) to the Commission (17 November 1998) Subject: Playground safety standards Every year thousands of children are injured in playgrounds which do not meet safety standards. In Sweden, where the rules in this regard are, in fact, among the strictest in the Union, reports show that 7 percent of the