Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-12-13-Speech-2-424"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20051213.64.2-424"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union has links with the 18 ACP countries via some very old agreements on sugar. It would obviously be inconceivable to sever these close links brutally under the pretext of reforming our sugar regime, however necessary it may be.
Reform of the CMO in sugar will, of course, have extremely serious economic and financial consequences in countries that have, until now, been able to export to the EU markets. However, its effects will also go far beyond that. For most of these countries, sugar is not just a product like any other. The reform will have an extremely serious social impact in these countries, due to the very special role played by sugar cane cultivation: a social, economic, cultural and environmental role.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is an urgent matter and it is out of the question to wait for the 2007-2013 financial perspective before acting. It is therefore our duty, as you just said, Commissioner, to take measures now that will be applicable from 2006 and may be renewed in 2007 to assist the initial efforts of these countries to restructure their sugar industries or to diversify their economies.
Commissioner, now is certainly not the time for Parliament to make pronouncements on the definitive measures that should be put in place, but allow me to formally request that the measures put to the ACP countries be up to the challenge. In view of conversations I have had with the Council and with the Commission while drafting this report, I can assure you that this request is not simply a rhetorical one.
I would just like to backtrack briefly, if I may. Parliament’s Committee on Development unanimously called for the aid provided by the Commission for 2006, which it considered to be completely inadequate, to be doubled from EUR 40 to 80 million. I bitterly regret the attitude of certain Member States who did everything they could to block this proposal, particularly by refusing to take part in any dialogue on any increase of the 40 million proposed. They would not allow this amount to move by a single euro, and some of them even talked about reducing it. I also find the Commission’s attitude regrettable, as it turned a deaf ear to the incessant and unanimous calls from the ACP countries for a larger sum. The Commission’s refusal to re-examine this figure, which is obviously far too low, meant that the Council would have to take a unanimous decision to increase the proposed amount, which was pretty much mission impossible, despite the efforts of the UK Presidency, I would emphasise.
Unfortunately, I can only regret having been defeated in this very place, during the budgetary discussions. One day, this Parliament will have to take a look at the unacceptable way in which the Committee on Budgets deals with the political priorities issued by the other thematic committees. I really cannot understand how a figure of 80 million proposed by all the members of the Committee on Development can just be dismissed out of hand by the members of the Committee on Budgets.
Be that as it may, we were obliged to accept this arrangement hatched without us. Indeed, in order for this regulation to be implemented normally, and in view of the timescale for examining the action plans to be submitted by the ACP countries, it is vital for it to be adopted at first reading. This situation therefore caught us in an impasse: if we took the risk of pushing through a sum of 80 million, that would have lead to a second reading, which would have threatened the very existence of the text.
True, as I said before, the level of aid is clearly inadequate, but these countries need this money now and cannot be made to wait under the pretext that the Council, the Commission and a number of our fellow Members are not prepared to keep the European Union’s commitments or its word.
Madam President, one time does not make a habit. This attitude is, in my view, a very short-term one. At a time when the EU is taking part in the difficult negotiations at the WTO, tomorrow in Hong Kong, the day after elsewhere, I am afraid that the ACP countries risk remembering how flippantly we have treated them. In conclusion, Commissioner, once this regulation has been adopted, the development of this matter will be in the hands of the European Commission and will ultimately depend largely on the welcome it gives to the projects of the ACP countries. I hope that Parliament will be kept regularly informed, via its Committee on Development, which I would like to thank for its constant support, on developments in this important matter."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples