Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-10-Speech-3-148"

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"en.20040310.4.3-148"2
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"Mr President, I agree with what the rapporteur, Mr Brok, says regarding the catastrophic lack of preparation of the ten accession countries. I will focus my speech on the agricultural aspects of enlargement. Like the rapporteur, I am concerned about the possibility of social problems such as a rural exodus and increased unemployment, and stress the importance of semi-subsistence farming in the accession countries. Like him I note that considerable problems remain, such as the fact that the administrations of several countries are still not capable of correctly implementing Community law, including the payment of agricultural subsidies. This situation is particularly worrying given the level of corruption in some candidate countries. Like my colleagues in the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, I am particularly concerned about a series of problems in the area of food safety and public health. On 4 March, for example, barely two months before accession, Poland asked for a transition period of six to 12 additional months in order to bring some 300 agricultural and food companies in line with European rules, when they should have been ready on 1 May 2004, thereby acknowledging its lack of preparation. It should be added that, since 2001, the ten accession countries have received around EUR 500 million per year through the SAPARD funds, for the sole purpose of adapting their agriculture to their rural areas. They are far from achieving this. I regret the fact that this whole undertaking was conducted so hastily. It strikes me at the moment that enlargement is like a runaway train that no one knows how to, or wants to stop. I cannot see, therefore, how I can share in the rapporteur’s conclusions; rather, I am concerned about them. This is why I will vote against the report."@en1

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