AGRICULTURE: COMPENSATION FOR BELGIAN FARMERS HIT BY DIOXIN SCANDAL.

The first scheme notified concerns a Belgian royal Decree setting out arrangements for granting compensation under the Belgian law on aid measures for agricultural enterprises affected by the dioxin crisis which was notified earlier and was recently approved by the Commission. The aim of this aid scheme is to guarantee the survival of the enterprises by offering compensation for economic damage (loss of turnover). The aid can be authorised because of the clear link between the loss of turnover sustained by the producers and the exceptional occurrence.The state aid, in the form of a fixed amount, is paid only per means of production or per unit marketed so that it cannot be combined with other forms of aid authorised in the past in the form of compensation for the elimination of animals or products unfit for consumption or marketing. The control measures are to be found in the law of December 3, 1999 on aid schemes for agricultural enterprises affected by the dioxin crisis. This provides for measures to ensure that the combination of all types of aid does not result in over-compensation and arrangements for the...