Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-01-16-Speech-2-185"
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"en.20010116.10.2-185"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, I should like to start by joining in the gratitude expressed to Mr Parish. I think this is a very constructive own-initiative report. There is a rather nice saying that the future belongs to the young, but we can turn this around when we talk of European farming and say that, without young farmers, there is no future. The future of the countryside, and especially the future of young farmers in Europe, does not look good. The numbers alone should set our alarm bells ringing. The number of farms in the EU has fallen constantly over recent years. Of course, we welcome the structural change but, at the same time, the extent of the change does give us cause for concern. The biggest decrease has been in the number of farmers under the age of 35. Thank God that young people from farms have the same career prospects as their peer groups and siblings.
The tradition of handing farms down from one generation to the next is disappearing. The question of what becomes of the older generation left on the farm is often still unanswered. Unfortunately, farms standing empty have become a familiar sight – even in my country, which I would never have imagined possible. How many young people want to have to keep making excuses because they are farmers? Young farmers want fair prices for their products. It is not because of the subsidies that they choose to be farmers.
The Parish report may help to improve the overall image of young farmers. The public pays scant attention to the services of farming. I should like to take this opportunity to thank you, Commissioner Fischler, for repeatedly highlighting the multi-functional task which farming fulfils. But apparently bad news makes better news.
At the moment, you can read about the current BSE crisis blow by blow. But no one bothers to mention, for example, that consumer associations in my country have been wantonly campaigning for food at rock bottom prices for years now. Of course I disapprove of the criminal machinations of the feedingstuffs industry, the lack of controls by the authorities and so forth, but it is all this together which has resulted in the chaos in which more and more members of the profession find themselves.
If you belong to this profession, if you are a farmer, then you will easily understand why young people ask, do I really need this? With the current BSE situation, it is quite out of order to pillory our farmers and young farmers. We have set standards. So-called ‘good professional practice’ has been continually developed by our excellently trained young farmers. Essential services in the production of foodstuffs and raw materials, the development, further development and preservation of the countryside and the protection of the natural bases for life are all areas in which Europe will need farmers and young farmers in the future.
I should like to close by saying that these young farmers do not just need reliable policies; they also need good wives and strong families. Only this sort of environment can give them the strength they need to perform their important function in society."@en1
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