Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-09-02-Speech-2-228"
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"en.20030902.10.2-228"2
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".
Mr President, honourable Members, as Mrs Frassoni has accurately observed, the implementation of the Spanish National Hydrological Plan would make a greater range of water resources available in Spain. The Commission does not at present have any detailed information or studies at its disposal that would indicate what effect such availability of additional water would have on production in the European Union and on agricultural prices. So we can only estimate it.
The Commission estimates that the increase in water resources will have only a very slight effect on the extent of the agricultural products supported by Community agricultural funding. The fact is that there is already an upper limit for Community support for most irrigated cultures, and this upper limit relates either to surface area (as in the case of maize or rice) or to guaranteed national maximum authorised quantities (as in the case of cotton, olive oil, or processed products from fruit and vegetables). Payments are reduced in proportion to the extent to which the cultivated areas exceed the areas dedicated to crops eligible for support. The increases in yield or the extension of the irrigated areas, which are the possible consequences of the Spanish Hydrological Plan would thus have no effect on the total amounts paid, nor could the implementation of the plan have any effect on the production of milk, to which quota rules apply.
The only sector in which production could increase is the fresh fruit and vegetables sector, which is, however, already very strongly market-oriented, and production would increase only if the necessary market potential were present. An additional consideration is that irrigation could improve the quality and competitiveness of fresh fruit and vegetables.
So, were the invisible balance of Mediterranean agriculture to be affected by the Spanish plans, such a development would not be supported by the Community, as increases in production do not automatically entail an increase in Community support."@en1
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