Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-22-Speech-1-096"
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"en.20071022.14.1-096"2
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".
Madam President, as we all know, it has long been presumed that a connection exists between pesticides used in agriculture or genetically modified foodstuffs on the one hand and various diseases on the other. When pesticides are even being found here and there in drinking water, it is undoubtedly high time to make the slow-grinding wheels of EU bureaucracy turn faster.
It remains to be seen how far we can actually go towards achieving the present aim of reducing the application of plant protection agents. We are all familiar, of course, with ambitious aims that are not achieved in the end. I do believe, however, that the intended replacement of carcinogenic substances is far from the great achievement it is volubly proclaimed to be; on the contrary, it is, in my view, an immediate imperative. In actual fact, the replacement of these substances is long overdue.
If we consider that the EU accounts for one quarter of all global pesticide use even though it possesses only 4% of the world’s arable land, the problem becomes immediately clear. These statistics also show that our EU support schemes have patently been steering conventional agriculture in the wrong direction.
There is, of course, a general suspicion among consumers – and it is not entirely unfounded – that resourceful farmers are trying to circumvent the prescribed ceilings with combinations of authorised plant protection products. Given the lack of research into interaction between products, it is high time for intervention to curb such practices. Moreover, the continual increases in maximum concentrations in recent years must be reversed in view of the greater danger posed to high-risk groups such as children.
Importing organic products from the opposite ends of the earth is not only inconsistent with various environmental objectives but is also one of the causes of increased traffic volumes and a perennial indictment of the Union’s misguided support policy. Our support schemes should therefore be rethought, particularly with a view to providing more support for those European farmers who refrain using pesticides. If we choose instead to go on harassing farmers with bureaucratic obstacles, no one should be surprised if they ultimately throw in the towel in frustration while Brussels is bewildered by the chronic dwindling of the farming community."@en1
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