Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-05-15-Speech-1-064"
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"en.20000515.4.1-064"2
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"Mr President, according to Mrs Schierhuber’s present report, if something goes wrong with a certain regulation in Europe, in this case flax, it is quite possible to ensure that that regulation can remain intact by means of new proposals. Flax, like hemp, is a special product, with a long European tradition. The mere fact that both my trousers and jacket are made of linen and flax which is processed in Flanders and partly in Zeeland, and grown in France, bears out this product’s long-standing tradition.
The reason we are having to hold this debate is to do with the fact that the regulation has gone off the rails. We all know what happened to short flax. We also know that that derailment occurred in Southern Europe and we need to be prepared to adapt the policy.
But what is now happening with the Commission’s proposal is tantamount to throwing out the baby with the bathwater. People have overstepped the mark. At the same time, it is quite possible to tighten the flax and hemp regulations so that we can manage on a normal budget such as the one we have had over the past couple of years and, despite this, continue to grow flax and hemp in Europe at a profit.
I am saying this because, although the cultivation of flax and hemp is traditional, they are also used in special applications in linen for clothing and in other applications in the non-food sector. I am thinking of dashboards and bumpers for cars. At the same time, they form a true complement to agricultural policy. They are special products which offer a great deal of added value and employment. It is exactly because of these three facets that we have to be so much more careful about drafting a sound regulation.
This is why I give my full backing to Mrs Schierhuber’s report. The amounts which have been mentioned guarantee that cultivation remains profitable and also ensure sound processing. What we need is tighter control on processing to ensure that malpractices are prevented in future.
I would like to end on a historical note. My country suffered an eighty-year war at the hands of Spain, which was eventually settled with the Peace of Münster. The people who met round the table came from the southern Netherlands – Belgium as it is known today, – the northern Netherlands – the Netherlands as we know it today – and Spain, and all three wore linen jackets, most probably made in Flanders, the linen being grown in Northern France and Belgium. An eighty-year conflict failed to destroy the cultivation of flax along the North Sea coast. Surely, we cannot afford to let the current regulation go under on account of a minor derailment in Spain which has meanwhile been rectified and which has led to crops being cultivated there over an area reduced to 50 000 hectares. I would like a new flax regulation for Europe to reflect this historical awareness that was achieved with the Peace of Münster."@en1
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