Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-06-13-Speech-3-280"
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"en.20010613.11.3-280"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, I should like to begin by thanking Mr Maat of the Group of the European People’s Party and Mr Kindermann of the Group of the Party of European Socialists for what was unusually constructive and fruitful cooperation in the Committee. There was, of course, overwhelming interest in this report, such that no less than 135 amendments were tabled. We jointly made these into 10 compromise amendments adopted by a very large majority of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. I should also like to thank the Commission and the Swedish Presidency for their very constructive cooperation.
The Commission’s proposal, which forms the basis for the measures concerned, contains many good features, but I do not think that it is sufficiently far-reaching. What I do not see are common rules for European farmers competing in a single internal market. Animal welfare and the needs of pigs are of course one and the same, whether the pigs concerned are in the north or the south. Naturally, there are differences in temperature, but that only, of course, increases the need for overhead sprays, for harmonised rules concerning ventilation and for very good training for all EU farmers. I also think we are obliged to adopt common rules for European farmers and that we must not only ever talk about minimum rules. That is also, of course, what the Commission has proposed. It is clear to everyone that the different Member States do not attach equal importance to animal welfare, and it is therefore necessary for ourselves here in Parliament, together with the Commission, to decide that these concerns should be raised jointly. Otherwise, it will be possible justly to accuse us of not complying with our own decisions. The fact that we in Europe make high demands in terms of animal welfare makes our European pig breeders less competitive than producers outside the EU. In order to meet this problem and in order to ensure that consumers have clear and lucid information about products that witness to a high standard of animal welfare, the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development would request the Commission to take initiatives to produce common rules for the labelling of pork that complies with these high standards.
I have a lot of sympathy for the amendments tabled by the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy about introducing an import ban on products from third countries which do not comply with those standards we require. However, that is, of course, the same as proposing, or supporting the idea of, a trade war, and that is something I do not think we should do. It is therefore a problem that the Commission should solve under the aegis of the WTO. The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development would also ask the Commission to prepare a report on the situation regarding implementation of the existing directives from 1991, for it is of course not only a question of fair competition in the world market but also, to a large extent, of fair competition in the internal market.
The Member States send information about the directive to the Commission, but we are not given this information here in Parliament. The Commission ought now to gather the information and present it in a report explaining how the directive has been implemented, just as, this afternoon, we heard Commissioner Byrne provide a clear explanation of progress where animal transport is concerned. It could well be that the Commission appreciates the need for common rules, such as those within the transport area. I am very much looking forward to the Commission’s relevant proposals, which we expect to receive in October of this year. It is now, therefore, the Commission’s task to look after the interests of European farmers in the forthcoming WTO negotiations. As has been said, the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development proposes partly solving this problem by introducing a common welfare-marking system. It is, of course, obvious that every time European pig producers have a cost imposed upon them, it is not imposed upon our competitors, then we may be in danger of losing market shares.
The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development also wants the Commission to propose rules for keeping pigs outdoors, now that the rules governing intensive pig rearing are soon to be in place. We also have a duty to have definite rules adopted governing other pigs. More and more pigs are kept outdoors, and it is therefore necessary to secure common rules governing access to mud baths and shade and any other facilities relevant to keeping pigs outdoors. We have also tightened up the rules on training. It ought quite simply to be a requirement for farmers to have practical and theoretical training so that they are able to look after their animals responsibly. Like the introduction of overhead sprays, this tightening-up of the rules provides for animals’ greater welfare, and these matters are very, very important."@en1
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