Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-10-11-Speech-3-263"
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"en.20061011.22.3-263"2
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"Mr President, we can see the growing importance of the market for fruit and vegetables. This is partly a result of increasing consumption, and of the interest farmers have in growing such products to improve their income. During the accession talks, despite the good examples of solutions for the markets for tomatoes, peaches or citrus fruit, there was lack of will on the part of the EU to positively resolve the problem of the berries market. 2004 was a difficult year for berry growers in Poland. I sent my first letter about this to the former Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Fischler, in July 2004. At the same time, the European Commission started work on simplifying the common market in fruit and vegetables in the EU, on which it reported in August 2004. In March 2005 the European Parliament adopted a position on this matter.
As a result of numerous interventions and speeches by Polish MEPs to the Committee on Agriculture, we succeeded in convincing our chairman Joseph Daul to speak on this matter. As a result, in April and July 2005 Poland received experts’ visits by representatives of the European Commission who looked into the issue of the berry and cherry market in Poland and drew up a report. In 2005 Polish berry growers had to deal with negative returns on produce in that market. In 2006 the Agricultural Commission of the European Parliament included in its programme a session in Poland, enabling MEPs to see for themselves the hardships that their Polish colleagues had been talking about. The Commissioner, who is not present here today, was probably already well acquainted with the problem. By the way, I am curious to know whether anyone in the Commission has counted how many speeches Members have made in this matter.
During the visit to Poland, the European Commission for the first time presented a report on the situation in the berry, cherry and cherries for processing sector. The report is incomplete as it does not take into account the lack of horizontal integration, that is to say relations between the farmer and the processor. Also, it does not mention that growers are absent from the ownership structure of this industry, and that foreign capital is dominant. Nor does it present scenarios for the likely development of the situation on the berries market in the future. It is stated that all the problems of this particular Polish market have to resolve themselves. 2006, like the two previous years, has again proved extremely difficult for soft fruit growers, and has been a crisis year. The Committee on Agriculture has therefore requested that action on this be speeded up and intensified, the result being today’s debate and the resolution which this House will adopt in tomorrow’s vote. We now have the final version, so let us go through it.
MEPs appeal to the European Commission firstly to take action to improve the competitiveness of berries in the EU. Secondly, it should take immediate action to limit the excessive import of berries from third countries at dumping prices. As we know, the Anti-Dumping Committee yesterday decided to impose immediate duties on frozen strawberries exported by Chinese firms. The additional duties will be 0%, 12.6% or 32.4% depending on the situation. Thirdly, a support mechanism for grower groups should be introduced, which would give growers greater encouragement to form groups, for example, by doubling the rate of aid for groups that are formed and then recognised. Fourthly, other instruments should be introduced, such as a special safeguard clause, entry price mechanisms or inclusion of berries on the list of sensitive products. A fifth recommendation is to implement a system to support the processing of berries such as strawberries or raspberries similar to that currently used for tomatoes, peaches or citrus fruits, to stabilise the market.
As regards the final point, I know that Commissioner Fischer-Boel, who is not present today, was rather sceptical about this, which is why it may be worth considering the introduction of a regional system of payments for growing berries for processing. This would be in addition to the current subsidies within the SAPS system. A similar solution is proposed for reforming the banana market, where there is a change in the rules for granting subsidies for products expressed in tonnes in favour of subsidies calculated by land area. In order to increase the competitiveness of the sector, these payments must be tied in with an obligation to join producer groups or organisations, and an obligation to sell produce within a contracting framework. The resolution also contains a number of other interesting measures and proposals.
Berry growers have lost three years, and at the rate things are going with the reform of the market, it seems they will lose two more. It is only in April 2007 that legislative proposals for solutions in the fruit and vegetable sectors are planned to be tabled."@en1
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