Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-10-26-Speech-2-188"
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"en.20041026.12.2-188"2
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"Mr President, I should like to respond to Mr Gollnisch’s claim that France is the largest contributor to the European Union; it is in fact my own country. As far as the agricultural component is concerned, I have to say that 40% is allocated to France, and in my country, 60% of the farmers and market gardeners have to make do without any European contribution. I too fight for French agriculture, but he should get his facts right.
I am strongly opposed to the Council’s course of action with regard to agricultural spending. The sweeping reform of 2004 – now listen to this, Mr Gollnisch – is putting incomes, especially those of European farmers, under enormous pressure. In some cases, incomes are being halved. That is also why I object strongly to excessive cutbacks in the agricultural budget, particularly in export contributions. I am pleased that the Commission intends to put this right to some extent, and I am also pleased with the rapporteur’s commitment, for he has, in the area of agriculture in any event, shown his good nature and his willingness to revert back to the Commission’s first initiative and to rectify this digression on the part of the Council of Ministers.
If I may now turn to fisheries, I should like to urge Parliament to act on the Committee on Fisheries’ proposals and establish regional fishery councils. At present, there is a yawning chasm between what is happening in Brussels and what fishermen are experiencing. These regional fishery councils could bridge the gap between what is happening in Brussels and how this should be applied in practice. It follows that Parliament has every reason to cooperate and to try to actually build that bridge. I am also pleased that the rapporteur is in any event prepared, despite his critical stance towards agencies, to equip and furnish the European Maritime Agency. That is of the essence if we want to offer more maritime safety to our coastal communities.
My last point concerns animal diseases. I know that there are fresh proposals to carry out more detailed research. As far as I am concerned, the research stage is over and I am pleased with the initiatives by the Dutch Presidency, both at Parliamentary level in November and also via the Council in December, to organise two large conferences in order to achieve better European policy with regard to protection against animal diseases, such as, at the moment, avian flu in Thailand and in Asia. Such an approach packs far more punch than filling the coffers of yet another research fund, because, although we have by now acquired a great deal of knowledge, we still have not summoned the political decisiveness in order to effectively deal with the risks of infectious animal diseases."@en1
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