Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-12-13-Speech-2-425"
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"en.20051213.64.2-425"2
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".
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to extend my wholehearted thanks to Mr Lehideux for his report. Unfortunately, it was all we could manage in the circumstances. By this I mean that we have had to face facts, and to accept that only EUR 40 million will be available to the 18 Sugar Protocol countries as compensation in 2006. Although this compensation will at least be approved at first reading, which we can only hope will mean that it will be paid out in good time, we are all aware that it is nowhere near enough.
Our own sugar farmers, on the other hand, will receive extremely generous compensation, to the tune of over EUR 5 billion. Hundreds of millions more were added at the last minute in order to reach an agreement, with money apparently no object. While I do not begrudge our sugar farmers this compensation in the slightest, I would be willing to bet that our policies will directly contribute to the future political and social destabilisation of some of the ACP countries, most of which are small island states. These countries are prepared to carry out reforms, to diversify and to modernise, but they will struggle to cope if the total subsidies they receive are cut by 36% in four years’ time.
I myself have visited Guyana and various other countries. Nearly two thirds of jobs in Guyana depend directly or indirectly on sugar. It would be impossible for anyone to deal with cuts of this magnitude in only four years, and so no one should be surprised if the country becomes politically or socially unstable. Such instability would be a direct result of our policy-making in this Chamber. I ask for my words to be taken down, so that no one can claim to be surprised when the inevitable happens.
Only 10% of jobs in Jamaica depend on sugar, but the crime rate there is already incredibly high, with 1 400 murders having been committed this year alone in a country that numbers two million inhabitants. If this figure were extrapolated to Germany, it would mean over 50 000 murders, whereas the actual number is only around 300. This is a good indication of the social situation in the country, and if we cause the unemployment rate to rise by a further 10%, then it should come as no surprise if Jamaica, too, becomes unstable."@en1
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