27.3.2004 EN Official Journal of the European Union C 78 E/467
(2004/C 78 E/0491) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3128/03 by Jaime Valdivielso de Cué (PPE-DE) to the Commission
(23 October 2003)
Subject: Trade
Some draft conclusions were drawn up in preparation for negotiations on the agriculture chapter at the failed WTO talks in Cancún that would involve cutting back subsidies under the common agricultural policy, which has just been reformed.
Does the European Union intend to accept these new conditions even though no agreement was reached on this matter in Cancún?
What is the European Union’s margin for manoeuvre on agriculture for the next multilateral negotiations, without it having to introduce fresh reforms to the CAP?
Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission
(25 November 2003)
Due to the course of events in Cancun, Ministers did not have the opportunity to discuss the Agricultural part of the draft Ministerial Declaration submitted by Mr Derbez. This chapter contained some proposals of great concern to the Commission, notably in the pillars of domestic support and export competition. Had the discussion started in Cancun, the Commission would have sought the necessary changes to the text.
The Commission has based its position on the decisions on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform taken in Luxembourg in 2003. The depth and width of the CAP reform will enable the Commission to continue working on this basis in the future so as to maintain the consistency of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations with the Community’s domestic framework.
(2004/C 78 E/0492) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3131/03 by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission
(23 October 2003)
A race of horses well on its way to extinction, the Iberian horse, popularly known as the ‘Sorraia’ horse, is seen by specialists as possibly the original primitive horse native to the Iberian Peninsula.
Their reasons are that it is faithfully depicted in cave paintings in the Spanish La Pileta cave and the Portuguese Escoural cave. It is believed that this type of horse was used for Roman cavalry, and that it was taken to the Americas during the colonial period, giving rise to the majority of the types of horse now found there. It is apparently also the source of the national races of horse to be found in Spain the Andalusian horse and Portugal the Lusitanian horse.
Portugal is home to the largest population of these ‘Sorraia’ horses, estimated to number fewer than one hundred in 2002.
For these reasons, and others, the ‘Sorraia’ horse represents a unique genetic heritage, in view of its rarity and primitive character. C 78 E/468 Official Journal of the European Union EN 27.3.2004
The Commission: