Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-11-13-Speech-1-134"
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"en.20061113.19.1-134"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, I should first like to thank the political group and the other groups for the interest that they have shown in this subject and that made it possible for this oral question to be put quickly onto the agenda. This level of interest is indicative of the importance and sensitivity of the issue of milk quotas.
Commissioner, you suggested at the informal Council meeting that the system of milk quotas appears increasingly outdated and that it should be questioned and examined in such a way that farmers can plan their lives over the long term. On 3 October, at the last meeting of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Rasmussen, representing the Commission, confirmed that we would see changes following the CAP 2008-2009 health check, most probably a phasing out of the milk quota system before 2015, when the 2003 Agreement is due to expire. It was not Parliament that raised this issue now, but it is in Parliament that the issue must be clarified, because our voters are most concerned and are anxious to know what is going on.
The truth of the matter is that the market reacted to these statements immediately, and various organisations and political agents appeared in public to have their say on the future of milk quotas. Although the CAP health check cannot be viewed as a mid-term review, we are aware of the internal and external pressures to make changes that go beyond merely simplifying the processes. In the dairy sector, planning is done over the long term. As regards, on the one hand, quota acquisition and, on the other hand, genetic improvement, environmental obligations and investment in determining the quality of the milk fat and protein content produced by each cow per lactation, analysis is required every six to eight years. Accordingly, what politicians are saying today will have repercussions until 2014-2015.
As I come from a region in the Azores which accounts for 30% of Portuguese milk production, where milk is the main source of income and where there are no medium-term alternatives, I am particularly sensitive to these changes. It is therefore essential that we know whether or not the agreement must be complied with and whether any stringent mechanisms are to be put in place before or after 2015.
On the other hand, it is also crucial to state for political purposes that the EU will take into account the social and economic impact that changes of this nature could have on regions that depend on milk and, in particular, on regions in which there are no production alternatives. What we really need to know now, Commissioner, is whether the milk quota system will be maintained in its current form until 2015, so that the market and the producers can be kept fully informed."@en1
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