Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-03-10-Speech-4-064"
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"en.20050310.6.4-064"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, I would like to begin by congratulating Mrs Aubert on her report, which was approved unanimously in the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, and by expressing the Socialist Group’s satisfaction with the final result of the report.
At committee stage, all of our amendments have been incorporated, and this has substantially improved the Commission's initial proposal, which began with 21 measures which were not very concrete, not at all ambitious and in no way binding.
One of the objectives of the reform of the CAP is to combine the production of quality products with respect for the environment, and this type of agriculture is precisely the fundamental pillar required in order to achieve that twin objective.
In certain European regions, such as Andalusia, over the last decade we have increased the area dedicated to these crops from 2 000 to 300 000 hectares as a result of the regional government being the first in Europe to have a serious and budgeted action plan for ecological crops. In general terms, the sector is increasing by an average of 30% per year.
We will all agree, therefore, that, if the CAP acknowledges the importance of ecological agriculture, which is increasing, as has been pointed out, we cannot and must not leave the farmers and the Member States on their own at the end of the day. Neither is leaving it to the States to decide whether or not to promote this type of production the best solution.
We in my group essentially believe that the Commission is being inconsistent. The qualities and virtues of this very important sector are stressed but at the same time it is not given clear and decisive support. Gestures are not enough. We also need real action and budgets.
Ecological agriculture must become an integral part of a production system that supports the environment. We are working on the basis of a reality on which, furthermore, there is unanimity: farmers, consumers and all political bodies have shown a renewed interest in the phenomenon of ecological agriculture. It therefore falls to us in the European Parliament to insist on and encourage clear and decisive support for this type of agriculture.
We believe that the action plan that we are voting on today is a first step and an opportunity for debate, but it is a weak and unambitious step. We shall not pretend that we did not want to go further. For example, the committee would have considered it appropriate to establish specific aid for the sector. More support is needed for marketing, certification, control, etc.
Having said that, however, we believe that the Commission should go ahead with this plan. But what we must ask, particularly while the Commissioner is present, is that it be a genuine action plan and not simply a suggestion plan, and that Parliament show decisive support for this very important sector and this pioneering action plan that the sector needed so much."@en1
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