Brussels, 21/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - At the 20 March Agriculture Council, France and Ireland opposed the abolition, proposed by the European Commission, of the system, which has been in force since 1969, of pre-financing export refunds. Under this complex system, heavily criticised by the Court of Auditors, beneficiaries are paid as soon as the basic product for export is placed under the control of the Customs for storage or processing (up until approximately 6 months in advance). Pre-financing export refunds eases the task of exporters and plays an important role in checking goods.
Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel told Ministers that the Commission would soon present a proposal to abolish the pre-financing of export refunds system, which was criticised by the European Parliament too in 2004, to the appropriate management committee. Because the EU has become, since 2005, a net importer in the beef sector, the use of the pre-financing of export refunds system has become “less useful than in the past”, said Mrs Fischer Boel, defending her position. France and Ireland reproached the Commission for not consulting Member States on the abolition of the system and called for a study on the possible socio-economic consequences of such a decision on operators. France stressed that 30% of bovine exports benefited from the pre-financing export refunds and Ireland said that 90% of its beef exports were affected by this system. Both countries claimed that the system had been considerably improved since the report from the Court of Auditors and was now working well. Neither saw any reason to abolish it.