Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-05-07-Speech-3-242"
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"en.20080507.18.3-242"2
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"Mr President, before going into the content of the report, I want to thank the rapporteur, Mr Gklavakis, and the Agriculture Committee members for the very good job they have done on this extremely sensitive issue of cotton reform.
In 2006, as you know, the Court of Justice annulled the cotton reform that we agreed in 2004, ruling that it was in breach of the proportionality principle. The Court also ruled that a new regime should be adopted within a reasonable time. The Commission therefore immediately responded to the ruling by commissioning several studies, launching a comprehensive consultation process and carrying out the impact assessments.
On this basis, the Commission proposes to continue coupling 35% of the aid, which allows for maintaining cotton production and respecting the Accession Treaties of Greece, Portugal and Spain. At the same time, decoupling of 65% is in line with the CAP reform process and the commitments of the European Union to its international partners, specifically in the developing countries.
Against this background, I very much welcome the support in the report for the 35% coupled rate as a balanced way forward. Your report correctly draws attention to the process of restructuring which the cotton sector within the European Union is undergoing. I understand the needs of the sector and therefore I am positive about amendments proposing to support this process, for example through lowering the national base area and thereby increasing the coupled aid per hectare. On this point, I find your suggestions very reasonable.
However, you also call for increased aid per hectare where the cotton area falls below the defined area at national level, and this poses a problem. I have to say that this is actually a countercyclical system that would make the aid within the European cotton sector more trade-distorting and would be in clear contradiction of our multilateral trade negotiation mandate within the DOHA Development Round.
I can support the amendments regarding a national envelope. I specially welcome the measure aimed at restructuring of the ginning sector and improving the quality of production. However, all restructuring measures should be compatible with the WTO Green Box and not overlap with measures that we already have in place within rural development policy.
Finally, it may not come as a surprise that I oppose a transfer of aid for cotton regions from the second pillar to the first pillar. I think it is obvious – and I have had the chance to express this opinion on several occasions here in Parliament – that we need to strengthen our rural development policy. I would like to underline that in cotton regions in Spain and Greece rural development programmes are actually efficiently used, for example the different agri-environmental schemes.
I am looking forward to a fruitful discussion on this very important issue."@en1
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