Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-05-Speech-2-023"
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"en.19991005.3.2-023"2
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"Mr President, the mere fact that there is a need for this debate at all ought, I feel, to instil a degree of humility in all those who make policy at European level. After all, Europe has more competence in the agricultural sphere, which absorbs half our budget, than it does in any other area. Nevertheless, we have had to contend with what have proved to be particularly severe forms of food poisoning in various Member States in recent years and there is little or no supervision in the agro-industry, which incorporates all manner of filth and rubbish into the food chain.
My country is now having to contend with the consequences of the notorious dioxin crisis. But everyone knows that what is happening in my country is just the tip of the iceberg and that the food safety problem is not confined to one or a few countries. Everywhere you look, there are residues of medicines and pesticides in the food chain. There are salmonella and dioxin problems everywhere and the list just goes on.
We do have a large number of European regulations and standards but they are rather fragmented. There appears to be a lack of a framework. Most importantly, there is no effective supervisory body to ensure that all these regulations and standards are adhered to. At the present time, more and more people in my country are asking the question, and rightly so, if it is normal practice for us to foot the bill for the stringent standards adhered to and, especially, for the stringent supervision exercised in our country when other Member States, I regret to say, do not take a blind bit of notice of these standards and supervision. It is an either/or situation. But since there is a free market and open borders and almost unlimited imports, including those from non-member States I might add, then effective measures must also be taken to impose common safety and environmental standards within the European Union, but also in the countries from which our food imports originate. These standards must then be supervised in earnest.
As I said, European agricultural policy absorbs half of our budget. 80% of that budget goes on 20% of agricultural enterprises, which is a very clear sign, of course, that for years European agricultural policy has taken the side of the agro-industry rather than that of the small-scale producers of high-quality agricultural products.
I believe that some responsibility for the problems we are facing should also be taken at European level, and that the EU should step in with financial aid when large numbers of small-scale farmers and agricultural enterprises in my country fall victim to what in many cases amounts to nothing less than the derailment of European agricultural policy."@en1
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