Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-02-02-Speech-3-247-000"
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"en.20110202.18.3-247-000"2
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Madam President, Mrs Győri, Mrs Balzani, ladies and gentlemen, first of all, I am delighted to note that the main aspects and the general orientation of the Commission’s proposal on bananas have been supported by the rapporteur. Furthermore, Mrs Balzani gave a very good introductory presentation of the context in which these negotiations have taken place and in which this agreement has been signed.
As regards the distribution of financial resources for the ACP Banana Accompanying Measures, as you know, the draft regulation establishing the BAM was approved by the European Parliament on 21 October, and it lays down conditions for the distribution of these resources. Therefore, the criteria that you have asked for are already in place and, what is more, the results and the distribution of this envelope are already in place.
On this subject, the Commission has worked in close and fruitful collaboration with the European Parliament, and we have reached a good compromise on the content concerning this point. The draft regulation intended to provide this support for the ACP countries has, moreover, been approved by the European Parliament, and it also defines the allocation criteria for the various beneficiary countries, but in addition provides what you are asking for here – an assessment of the market conditions in these countries, 18 months before the programme expires. This assessment will give us an indication of whether the adaptation processes are going well, or if we might have to envisage other measures.
As regards the impact assessment concerning the effects of the agreements on banana producers in developing countries and the outermost regions of Europe up to 2020, I am indeed prepared to contemplate such an analysis if it proves necessary. However, we must also be realistic about the scope of the study, because it is aimed at a large number of banana-producing countries across the world – as well as a large number of countries in which bananas are a staple food – and it will therefore be difficult to conduct this study and to draw conclusions from it. Nevertheless, I am prepared to undertake a study of this kind, or to use any data on internal or external studies that the Commission already has at its disposal. As I have already said, we will carry out an assessment of the effects of the BAM on the ACP countries 18 months before the programme expires.
Finally, regarding the negotiations on a free trade agreement with certain Latin American countries, in particular Ecuador, you will doubtless be aware that the negotiations on the trade agreement with Colombia and Peru and with the Central American countries have been concluded at a technical level. The agreement with Colombia and Peru can also be applied to other member countries of the Andean Community, including Ecuador, if it wishes to return to these negotiations. Ecuador has, incidentally, made an official request to return to negotiations on the trade agreement, and the Ecuadorean administration and the Commission are currently examining the possibility of restarting negotiations and thus the possibility of seeking an agreement on the steps to take.
Those are the few comments that I wanted to make in relation to your report and to the issues that you have raised. I have spoken somewhat at length, but I wanted to answer those questions that I could from the outset.
The Commission unreservedly supports the conclusions of the rapporteur’s draft recommendation and the draft report on this issue. It is true that the 2009 Geneva Agreements on bananas are very important, and Mrs Balzani emphasised very well the reasons why this is so. I would also like to point out that these agreements will bring peace on this thorny subject, and that they will also facilitate the Doha process and bring about the conditions necessary for establishing a stable European banana market, one which will be predictable over the coming years.
I would like to come back to some of the most important issues raised by the rapporteur and the MEPs in their oral or written questions, as well as those in the motion for a resolution which forms part of the package.
As regards the support given to European Union producers, I am very aware of the essential socioeconomic role of banana production in the European Union regions concerned – particularly the outermost regions – and of concerns about the economic viability of banana production in these regions.
In a recent report on the POSEI system, submitted to the European Parliament and the Council in September 2010, the Commission explains the consequences of the Geneva Agreements and the fact that these consequences have already been integrated into the 2006 reform of the system applicable to bananas.
In order to protect European Union producers in a context of increased liberalisation, the budget for the banana sector was increased considerably, and the impact assessment carried out at the time took into account the fact that tariffs had fallen more than had been agreed.
Nonetheless, the Commission has shown that it is willing to keep a close eye on the impact of the agreements on the market and, if need be, to take the measures necessary to mitigate their effects.
On the question of strengthening the position of banana producers in the sector, I would like to emphasise firstly that this question is not unique to the banana sector, but applies to the entire agro-food sector. These problems in the producer sector – problems with negotiating power and the distribution of added value along the food supply chain – affect other sectors too. In order to address this, furthermore, as part of the reform of the common agricultural policy, the Commission will table proposals to strengthen producers’ organisations, their role in the sector and their negotiating power.
Moreover, the Commission has created a High Level Group for the Agro-Food Industry bringing together several Commissioners who can table proposals along these lines – because the responsibility and power of the Commissioner for Agriculture is limited, but there are four Commissioners who participate in these groups and run these High Level Groups – a High Level Group with a road map and with proposals, and the Commission will table these in the next few months and years in order to try to respond to this issue of transparency in the food supply chain and negotiating power. Thus, in this context, banana producers in the sector will be able to benefit from it."@en1
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