Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-01-19-Speech-4-071-000"
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"en.20120119.3.4-071-000"2
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"Mr President, following my first very long speech and this very long debate, and since we have not yet heard from Mr Bové, my closing speech will be quite short.
This needs to be accomplished at national level, as is already happening in some Member States. That is why, through the forum that I have set up, we are trying to develop synergies between national price monitoring bodies, exchanging ideas and proposals, for instance, on the methodologies used.
With regard to the issue of competition, which was at the heart of several speeches during the debate, the Commission has put forward legislative proposals to improve the transparency of markets based on raw materials, including agricultural commodities. Specifically, these proposals concern over-the-counter derivatives, markets in financial instruments and market abuse, as I have said, and as you well know, these proposals are at the heart of the debate in Parliament.
There is one thing that I would like to ask Parliament. The proposals on derivatives, markets in financial instruments and market abuse are currently at the codecision stage. I believe that this House could give a positive response and could play a role of great importance.
I was speaking about competition. The Directorate-General is working closely with the national authorities within the European competition network. These authorities are able to examine and impose penalties on anti-competitive activities in their national markets and, during recent years, many national authorities have carried out thorough investigations in the agriculture and food sector.
That has made it possible to adopt significant penalty measures, many of which have related to abuse affecting farmers. The Commission will, however, soon publish a report on this subject and the European Parliament will, of course, be informed of it.
After this tribute to the President, I will speak in my language, Italian.
Mr President, honourable Members, I would like to make a few points concerning the issue of prices.
Regarding unfair commercial practices, the Commission is seeking to promote a consensual approach between the parties, and let me say again that this approach corresponds to the principle of good legislation that we have already welcomed thanks to this Parliament’s work on the Corazza Bildt report. I believe that we achieved good concrete results in this area in 2011.
The Commission and the high-level forum on the agri-food industry, as I have said, will need to analyse the possible instruments for applying the guidelines contained in the document that you will receive. The sector’s representatives have committed to participating in a further phase of dialogue to draw up a proposal by mid-2012. As I have said, the Commission will have to decide whether to continue with efforts to find a solution based on dialogue or to take action through legislation.
Of course, the dialogue needs to be completed swiftly, and cannot be postponed indefinitely. That is why, if there is no reasonableness or a genuine wish to conclude the dialogue, we will be forced to take action. There will be no option, even though I always prefer an agreement rather than to take action through legislation.
Late payment is another essential measure. I have said how strong my commitment is to ensuring that the directive on late payments be adopted swiftly, before the deadline set, which is the end of March 2013. I would like to say again that I have written to all the EU ministers of industry. Let me remind you that the directive sets deadlines not only between public authorities and enterprises, but also between large enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises, unless there are agreements between the parties, provided that these agreements are not harmful to the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises. I believe that this directive, which forms an important part of the ‘Small Business Act’, can truly provide a response to the problems of small entrepreneurs in the agri-food industry.
Next, to respond to your question on the need to move forward with an appropriate analysis of food prices in the EU, with a view to monitoring compliance with transparency, I would like to remind you of the important work done by Eurostat, the Commission’s statistical service, on the European food prices monitoring tool. This tool is based on the vital cooperation between Eurostat and the national statistical institutes within a specific working group in the high-level forum on the agri-food industry.
The Commission is also working together with the other international organisations working on similar issues, such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. However, because of the diversity of Europe’s food markets and the complexity of the factors influencing the prices paid by consumers, a detailed Europe-wide analysis of prices and margins is not realistic."@en1
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