WRITTEN QUESTION E-0956/00 by Gorka Knörr Borràs (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Abandonment of cultivated land.
C 72 E/10 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 6. 3. 2001 Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (5 June 2000) The Commission would remind the Honourable Member that the level of social security contributions is a matter for the Member States alone. The information available to the Commission on Social Security is contained in the publication Mutual Information System on Social Protection in the Member States of the European Unioní (MISSOC), where details of the various benefits in each Member State may be found. This publication is directly accessible on the Internet at the following address: http://europa. eu. int/comm/employment_social/soc-prot/missoc98. The Commission cannot envisage an aid mechanism which would pay a portion of social security contributions. Such a scheme could not be financed from any of the Commissionís budget headings. (2001/C 72 E/011) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0956/00 by Gorka Knörr Borràs (Verts/ALE) to the Commission (29 March 2000) Subject: Abandonment of cultivated land The gradual loss of income which has been affecting nut producers in Catalonia has resulted in an ongoing process of abandonment of cultivation in the countryside of the region, amounting over the 1990s to 39,4 % of all cultivated land. This process of rural dereliction is creating social and economic problems and increasing fire and soil erosion risks. What measures does the Commission intend to take for repopulation and conversion of production in the rural areas of Catalonia and to ensure that cultivated land is no longer left abandoned? Does the Commission intend to dedicate structural measures to this end? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (5 May 2000) The new rural development policy adopted by the Council in June 1999 has become the second pillar of the common agricultural policy. An essential element of the European model of agriculture, it aims by promoting job maintenance and creation to provide a solid and sustainable framework securing the future of rural areas. The main policy foci are a stronger agriculture and forestry sector, greater competitiveness on the part of rural areas, and protection of the environment and rural heritage. Among the structural measures included in 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 (1) are aid for afforestation of agricultural land, compensatory allowances in less favoured areas and areas with environmental restrictions, and agri-environmental aid. These should help meet the Honourable Memberís concerns. Agri-environmental measures for the period 1995-1999 presented by Spain and approved under Council Regulation (EEC) No 2078/92 of 30 June 1992 on agricultural production methods compatible with the requirements of protection of the environ- ment and maintenance of the countryside (2) already permitted aid to nut growers on the terms set in the relevant programmes. As is fully consonant with the subsidiarity principle, it falls to Member States to present their rural development programmes. For non-Objective 1 zones such as Catalonia EAGGF Guarantee aid may be requested for structural action as indicated above. In addition to the action envisaged, programmes must describe the situation in the zone, its specific problems, and the proposed strategy and its priorities. 6. 3. 2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 72 E/11 Spainís proposed rural development programmes, presented on 30 December 1999, are under examination in the Commission. Early approval is expected. (1) OJ L 160, 26. 6. 1999. (2) OJ L 215, 30. 7. 1992. (2001/C 72 E/012) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0972/00 by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (31 March 2000) Subject: Aid from Community funds Over 150 workers at Lisnave ü Lisbon Naval Shipyards Ltdí have been waiting for 15 years to be taken on again by this undertaking, having been forcibly dismissed a move which they have never accepted. It is now reported that Lisnaveí or Gestnave ü Industrial Services Ltdí, the successor company, received aid from Community funds. In view of the above, will the Commission say: 1. What Community funds were allocated to these undertakings? 2. In allocating Community funds, was due attention paid to the need to maintain jobs? Supplementary answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission (27 July 2000) According to information provided by the Portuguese authorities, the undertakings Lisnave Estaleiros Navais S. A. and Gestenave Prestaçªo de Serviços Industriais S. A. (both of which emerged from the restructuring of Lisnave Estaleiros Navais de Lisboa S. A. ) received European Social Fund (ESF) funding during the period 1994-1999 for vocational training activities. Gestenave Prestaçªo de Serviços Industriais S. A. obtained ESF co-financing to the tune of € 5 041 072 under the Vocational Training and Employmentí Operational Programme (OP), for a total of 842 000 hours of training and 1 542 beneficiaries. These beneficiaries were employees and unemployed workers (ex-employees of SODIA). The re-training enabled the unemployed workers to be taken on by Gestenave or other undertakings and enabled others to start up self-employment projects. Lisnave Estaleiros Navais S. A. obtained co-financing to the tune of € 3 711 295 under the Industryí Subprogramme (PEDIP II) of the Modernisation of the Economic Fabricí OP, for a total of 501 000 hours of training and 1 907 beneficiaries. These beneficiaries were employees and young persons without vocational qualifications who were due to replace those workers who had signed up for the early retirement programme included in the restructuring plan. Due to falling orders, Lisnave was not able to give all these young people jobs and has promoted efforts to find work for them in other undertakings in the same sector or in the region. To this end, Lisnave has set up an employment observatory to monitor the employability of these young persons. Although the figures available so far are scanty, they give grounds for optimism