Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-02-16-Speech-3-442-000"
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"en.20110216.15.3-442-000"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, an intense debate has been conducted on an issue which clearly causes us concern and which is highlighted when the situation so requires. It is, however, a permanent concern of the Commission and the European institutions, since we are lucky enough to have a common agricultural policy, which needs adapting, but which is an important tool in enabling us to manage these issues.
It may also be necessary to review our role in agricultural policy and in development policy and the way in which we address the food issue through different policies: trade policy, development policy, and financial policy. Perhaps here too we need concerted action.
I have also taken account of the need to act in the short term in certain sectors, and I am thinking in particular of the animal sector which, it is clear, is going through a difficult period as a result of strong pressure from all sides, low prices for producers, who are not benefiting from rising prices, and also high prices of inputs. I have taken note of this issue.
I have also noted the various proposals and suggestions that you have put forward. As regards the balance of aid between the crop sector and the animal sector, for example, the Member States already have the possibility to act on the decisions taken in 2008 in the health check of the common agricultural policy.
On the issue of stocks, it is an issue that must be analysed once again and reviewed since, with high prices, it is now impossible to speak of intervention stocks. However, it may be necessary to decide what role such stocks can play and how they could influence the proper functioning of the markets. I think that these are questions we must ask ourselves before we put forward proposals to this effect.
Finally, I would like to say to Jaroslav Paška that differences in payment between Member States do not necessarily come from the Commission. It is a decision taken by the Council, and by the agriculture ministers. The final decision always comes from the regulation proposed by the Commission, but these are regulations of the Council and, now, of the Council and of Parliament.
I also wish to make clear that no subsidy is given to agricultural production for biofuels in the European Union. Therefore, it is not the common agricultural policy that is stimulating the production of biofuels. Nor is it the intention of the Commission to set land aside. Something quite different is involved but, in any event, land is not going to be set aside in a situation where we actually need to produce.
These are the various points I wished to add in response to the issues raised. I also thank you for this fruitful debate and I hope that today’s debate will still be fresh in people’s minds in a few months’ time when we will discuss the resources to be allocated to the common agricultural policy, a policy that is a basic instrument in addressing food security.
However, I think that this debate has also shown us that our stability now increasingly depends on international balances and world stability. This must be incorporated, even when we talk about our common agricultural policy.
I think it is also clear that rising food prices is a worrying trend which, in addition to the issue of volatility and the considerable variation in prices, makes the problem we have to solve even worse.
It is clear that, if there is a need for greater production on the market, there is a need for investment in agriculture. However, for farmers to be able to invest, they need, above all else, stable incomes to give them the courage to take this step.
That is why, in the medium and long term, our common agricultural policy must be conceived with this in mind. It must offer a minimum of stability and encourage investment so that our farmers can produce and supply our markets.
It has also emerged in the course of the debate that it is necessary to ensure that our common agricultural policy and the agricultural policies of developed countries are also in step with the development of agriculture in the southern countries and that our policy to support cooperation and development with the southern countries is in step with the common agricultural policy.
At the same time, our common agricultural policy must guarantee the sustainable development of agriculture. It may be necessary to review the instruments at our disposal for managing these extreme market situations, while allowing the market to play its role without, however, being deprived of the necessary instruments to enable us to act and to avoid being caught unprepared for crisis situations. The common agricultural policy still has work to do on this point in the months and years ahead.
The issue of speculation, and hence of volatility, needs to be addressed, and I am not speaking euphemistically. The Commission has already set out proposals, which it intends to follow up, to deal with this situation. On this point, therefore, we are not talking simply of wishes but of concrete proposals.
We must also consider the role that the European Union has to play on the international scene with regard to the food problem. This issue cannot be stabilised in the European Union if it is not stable at international level."@en1
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