Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-12-11-Speech-1-187"
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"en.20061211.18.1-187"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union is, today, about to reform the internal strand of the common market organisation (CMO) in the banana sector, in order to adapt the aid scheme for European producers to the new global trade situation and to the principles of the new common agricultural policy.
This change, which is the subject of the report brought before the House today after being approved by a very large majority by Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, undoubtedly goes in the right direction. For banana producers in the outermost regions, who account for more than 98% of the EU’s production, it is proposed to transfer a package of almost EUR 280 million a year to the POSEI programmes, which will make for greater flexibility and better use of Community funds. In this regard, I should like to thank you, Commissioner, for the reassessment of the amounts allotted for this reform, which should make it possible to better assure the sector’s viability, particularly in the outermost regions where banana production plays a vital economic and social role for which no other agricultural product could compensate.
I must, however, remind you that the amounts proposed were calculated on the basis of the current customs tariff. Consequently, the uncertainty concerning world trade negotiations suggests that there may be a further reduction in this tariff level. Given that, at EUR 176 a tonne, the banana sector is already in an extremely delicate situation that threatens the socio-economic balance of many of the producing regions, a further reduction in the customs tariff would signal the end of banana production in the Community if no adjustment is made to the plan proposed by the Commission.
If the opening up of markets is to make a contribution to revitalising the production structures, it can do so only insofar as the fundamental principles of regulation and equity are combined, that is, the various producers need to respect the common rules that put them on an equal commercial footing. It is, however, quite evident that this equality is totally lacking in global trade given the gulf that exists between the social and environmental standards of European countries and those of the countries of Central or Latin America. Faced with this problem, the resolution of which has to remain one of the European Union’s priorities, the aid granted to Community banana producers is necessary in order to compensate for the failures in the global trade system. To be effective, these internal regulatory measures must be in line with the external regulatory tools. It is in this light that the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development is insisting on strengthening the evaluation measures indicated in the reform proposals, in order that the Commission could take positive steps if the external tariff situation were to deteriorate, for example by increasing the amount of the financial packages granted to producers.
The survival of banana production in the European Union also depends on its capacity to optimise its production costs while respecting the social rules and living standards of the producers. Since the CMO was established, producers’ organisations have in this way enabled a better concentration of Community supply of bananas in the market and contributed to a noticeable reduction in the costs relating to the cultivation of bananas in the European Union. It would now be contradictory in economic terms to disrupt this process. That is why we believe it is essential to maintain a regulatory framework in this regard at Community level in relation to producers’ organisations, in order to further the efforts already made towards strengthening our production structures. As the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development has asked, this willingness should, furthermore, be demonstrated by an obligation to affiliate to a producers’ organisation in order to benefit from aid provided within the context of the POSEI package, except when circumstances do not allow it.
Finally, and this will be my last comment, there is the question of the administration of aid. The support system for production within the present CMO in bananas does provide for schemes for bi-monthly advances that are essential to the sector’s activity in the outermost regions as in the rest of the Union’s producing countries. The transfer of packages to the POSEI programmes, however, is not coupled with any plan to continue this system of advances. This jeopardises the survival of producers who would therefore have to resort to private sector borrowing, at a time when the characteristic fluctuations of the commercial climate in this sector does not encourage banks to grant long-term loans. In this context of economic instability it is up to the European public powers to provide adequate safeguards so that these trade policy choices at global level do not run counter to the interests of those producers who are the most fragile in the Union."@en1
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