Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-06-15-Speech-4-255"
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"en.20000615.12.4-255"2
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"Commissioner, in your speech you told us how you viewed the situation, but I can assure you that the industry does not see it in the same way. It is true that aid was adopted in the past to tackle great difficulties facing the industry, but the problem is that today, ten years later and through no fault of the producers, the circumstances that led to the approval of that aid have not changed.
As has been pointed out, our tariffs continue to be very low, European products are still unable to compete with those originating above all from Turkey and the United States, as a result of social and labour costs or because the crops, in the case of the United States, are in irrigable areas and are mechanisable while those in the European Union are in drought areas which are not easily accessible, where there is little chance of mechanisation, and it is therefore true that they are less competitive. However, this does not make the production in the European Union any less important.
Furthermore, despite the importance of this production, we still have a deficit, and the disappearance of this crop – which may occur if the aid to the industry is not continued – would put the consumer in the hands of Turkey and the United States, who would set our prices from their position as a true monopoly. We should also remember, Commissioner, that there is practically no alternative to the cultivation of nuts because of the places in which they are produced.
For all these reasons, it is not surprising that there is enormous concern in the sector at the possibility that aid may be withdrawn, since without it – and we must recognise this –, given that the future of these operations, as a result of the competition from third countries, is in jeopardy and the investment made in the modernisation of the production systems – which has taken place on a significant scale – will have been pointless. I would therefore also like to ask you, Commissioner, on behalf of the producers in the sector and especially on behalf of the producers in Catalonia, for the specific aid to this sector to be continued in the way that has been pointed out here and along the lines of the motion for a resolution which I hope will receive the support of this House. This aid only represents 0.18% of the total budget of the EAGGF-Guarantee and 0.16% of the total agricultural budget, for which, furthermore, it has been pointed out that there is a sufficient financial margin.
Any other type of aid such as those you have mentioned, above all rural development aid, may be positive in other sectors, it is true, but in this case, given the specific nature of the sector, they are totally insufficient to guarantee the competitiveness, and therefore the survival, of these operations, whose interests the Commission – you, Commissioner – can in no way ignore."@en1
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