WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3119/98 by Raimo ILASKIVI to the Commission. Hemp-growing in Finland
21. 7. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 207/31 (1999/C 207/039) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3119/98 by Raimo Ilaskivi (PPE) to the Commission (16 October 1998) Subject: Hemp-growing in Finland According to some newspaper reports, EU-subsidised hemp-growing trials have been conducted in Finland, with satisfactory results. However, it has now emerged that in certain cases it has not proved possible to market the hemp grown: instead, it has been left piled up at the edge of the fields * yet despite this, EU subsidies have been paid for its cultivation. Payment of such agricultural subsidies cannot be a rational use of EU funds levied from the taxpayer. The EU ought either to subsidise marketing as well, which would make sense from the point of view of agricultural policy, or to make the payment of subsidies conditional on success in marketing the hemp which is grown. How will the Commission solve this problem? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (19 November 1998) Council Regulation (EEC) 1308/70 of 29 June 1970 on the common organisation of the market in flax and hemp (1) introduced aid per hectare for hemp grown in the Community. This aid is granted only if the hemp is produced using seed of varieties whose content in intoxicating substances (tetrahydrocannabinol) does not exceed 0,3 %. This limit will be reduced to 0,2 % from the 2001/02 marketing year. Moreover, the aid can be paid only for those areas which have been fully sown and harvested and on which normal cultivation work has been carried out. With particular regard to Finland, the area under hemp, which was 2 hectares in 1996 and 53 hectares in 1997, reached a considerable 1 286 hectares (provisional figure) in 1998. There are no rules on the conditions under which the harvested hemp is to be stored. On the other hand, in accordance with the commitment given by the Commission as part of the 1997/98 prices package to put forward appropriate measures in the hemp sector, the Council has introduced, for application from the 1999/ 2000 marketing year, a system of obligatory contracts between growers and primary processors, a processing commitment and a system to approve the primary processors. The detailed rules of application are currently being prepared and should eliminate the cultivation of hemp for which there is no product market. These provisions will prevent the situations referred to by the Honourable Member and should ensure that greater efforts are made to optimise the product¢s commercial worth. (1) OJ L 146, 4. 7. 1970. (1999/C 207/040) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3135/98 by Cristiana Muscardini (NI) to the Commission (16 October 1998) Subject: Improper tender for the organisation of water services in Ivrea On 1 June 1998 Ivrea (Turin) town council discussed setting up a joint company to manage all the public services of water abstraction, conduction and distribution for domestic purposes, sewage and waste water treatment. To set up this mainly public company, firms were invited in accordance with private negotiation procedures. These however are public works and initial estimates are 20 billion lire