Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-12-03-Speech-3-233"
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"en.20081203.19.3-233"2
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".
Mr President, Mr Mitchell, ladies and gentlemen, the food crisis has had a severe impact on developing countries.
I think that, as you have said and as you have shown by your actions, Europe had a moral obligation to respond rapidly, and this is all the more true since this crisis has been accompanied by a very serious financial and economic crisis whose disastrous effects on developing countries we will soon, unfortunately, be able to calculate, because these could very well involve the cancellation of public development aid, at the very least. However, we shall have an opportunity to return to this subject.
It seems to me that our three institutions – Parliament, the Council and the Commission – have succeeded in meeting the challenge by working swiftly on this facility intended to enable a rapid response to soaring food prices in developing countries.
I should like to thank you on behalf of President Barroso and the Commission. My special thanks also go to the rapporteur, Mr Mitchell, for his outstanding work, as well as to Mr Böge and Mr Le Foll for the contributions they have made on behalf of the Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, respectively.
As you know, we regret the refusal to make use of the available margins under heading 2. However, we remained realistic given the prospects for an agreement on a good text. I have to say that the compromise text on which you will vote tomorrow is a good one: on the one hand, because it properly includes your amendments and those made by the Council and, on the other, because it retains the three key elements of our position.
Firstly, a response of EUR 1 billion, and no one seems to have cast any serious doubt on our estimation of the requirements. Secondly, it has always been understood that this should be concentrated over a very short period of time. We proposed a period of two years but could accept three. Finally, the objective was to revive agricultural production in the countries most affected by the increase in prices. In other words, it was to save crops in the immediate future.
What are the next steps after you vote tomorrow and after the Council’s decision of 16 December? I think that the most important thing will be implementation in practice. In January 2009, the Commission will propose the initial project funding decisions, because I believe that we clearly need to get things under way very quickly. The main aim is to save the agricultural production of the 2009 harvest. We shall therefore do everything possible to ensure that the majority of the financial commitments are realised in 2009 and have an effect on agricultural inputs, for example, for the 2009 season.
As agreed, the general plan for implementation of the facility will be submitted to you in the very near future and, in any case, by the end of April 2009. This facility came about thanks to the political will of our three institutions, and its rapid, effective implementation will clearly require this same shared will."@en1
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