WRITTEN QUESTION E-2798/99 by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Extension of the lorry depot at the customs post of S. Andrea, in the province of Gorizia (Italy), despite the Slovenia's forthcoming entry into the EU.
C 26 E/10 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 26. 1. 2001 brought the price of chicken down to a level below production costs, which is damaging production areas which had nothing to do with recent scandals. In view of the consequent losses confronting the sector and the calls made by poultry producers for the sector to be reorganised in such a way as to restrict numbers of breeding hens, has the Commission taken or will it take action to respond to this request and mitigate the crisis which this situation has caused? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (24 February 2000) The difficulties encountered by the Spanish poultry sector in 1999 do not appear to be the direct result of the fall in consumption caused by the dioxin crisis. The difficulties have instead been caused by the increase in poultry meat production in Spain in 1999 compared to 1998. Indeed, the Spanish poultry industry estimates that production increased between 1998 and 1999 by about 15 % because the profitable results recorded at the end of 1998 brought about a drop in prices from the beginning of 1999, well before the dioxin crisis. That crisis then had an additional effect on the Spanish market for poultry meat from June 1999 on. As regards the issue of production surpluses since early 1999, the common organisation of the market in poultry meat excludes stabilisation measures, such as public intervention on the market. The poultry sector itself must match supply to demand while complying with the Community rules on competition. The Commission can only support the Community market through export aids intended to bring it into balance. These measures are subject to the restrictions laid down by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Despite these restrictions, however, the Commission introduced export refunds in the summer of 1999 for destinations other than the ones usually laid down, in order to facilitate exports from all Community regions. (2001/C 26 E/012) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2798/99 by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission (18 January 2000) Subject: Extension of the lorry depot at the customs post of S. Andrea, in the province of Gorizia (Italy), despite the Sloveniaís forthcoming entry into the EU The local government of Gorizia intends to carry out further work to extend the lorry depot facilities at the Italian customs post in the district of S. Andrea, on the border with Slovenia, despite the unfavourable opinion of all the parties involved (the neighbourhood council, various organisations and the population, which is in favour of breaking away from the commune of Gorizia) and despite Sloveniaís imminent entry into the European Union. The city council has signed an agreement with the communes of Nova Gorica and Vrtojba on the other side of the border, which makes provision for projects and funding for alternative facilities; The customs formalities and facilities will therefore have to be abolished; The lorry depot facilities are already underused, despite the occasional demand for back-up facilities; The area concerned ü which has been invaded for some years by the mass of concrete structures involved in the lorry depot ü is the historic site of a Slovenian-speaking community, which has seen its territory reduced by more than half, 26. 1. 2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 26 E/11 In view of these facts:can the Commission say whether the projects involved in the extension of the lorry depot facilities envisaged by the authorities of Gorizia at the customs post are sustainable and compatible with the pre-accession phase and Sloveniaís entry into the European Union? Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission (23 March 2000) The extension of the lorry depot in the customs post of S. Andrea, in the province of Gorizia, concerns mainly infrastructure and, from a customs point of view, is not incompatible with the implementation of the customs acquis, with the pre-accession strategy in the customs field, nor with the possible accession of Slovenia to the Union. On the compatibility of the measure with the existing agreement between Gorizia and Nova Goriza, the Commission has no competence. (2001/C 26 E/013) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2846/99 by Michel Raymond (EDD) to the Commission (18 January 2000) Subject: Article 30(1) third indent of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 (forestry support) Article 30(1) third indent of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 (1) of 17 May 1999 states that support for forestry applies to the processing of forestry products and (in the next line) that investment related to the use of wood as a raw material shall be limited to working operations prior to industrial processing. This constitutes an ambiguity which makes the European Unionís position vis-à-vis its support for the processing of forestry products incomprehensible. Could the Commission clarify its position with regard to this important matter? Does this mean that support for the first stage of timber processing (the work of sawmills) will be discontinued? If so, such a decision would deal a severe blow to the development of the timber trade in several European countries at a time when the latterís economic impact is constantly increasing. (1) OJ L 160, 26. 6. 1999, p. 80. Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (11 February 2000) Article 30 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending and repealing certain Regulations, to which the Honourable Member refers, restricts support from the EAGGF for investment in improving and rationalising the harvesting, processing and marketing of wood as a raw material to operations prior to industrial processing. The Honourable Member has interpreted the Regulation correctly in saying that first stage timber processing is excluded. This is not a change in Community policy. The activities of sawmills have not been part-financed by the EAGGF since approval in 1990 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 867/90 of 29 March 1990 on improving the processing and marketing conditions for forestry products (1). Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 does not abandon the timber industry activities previously financed by the EAGGF. On the contrary the same criteria continue to apply