Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-02-13-Speech-2-150"
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"en.20010213.8.2-150"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for giving me the opportunity to present the seven point plan to reform the beef and veal market which the Commission recently adopted. What exactly is this plan? We all know that the beef and veal market is in serious crisis; consumption in the European Union has plummeted; prices in Germany, for example, have fallen by 39.2% for steer and by 41.8% for cows. These historic lows have already triggered the intervention safety net in Germany and the Netherlands. In addition, our exports have, unfortunately, collapsed. Fast action is called for. Storing meat is clearly not enough per se. It would result in an unmanageable beef mountain, quite apart from the fatal consequences for taxpayers, consumers and farmers. We therefore also need fast reform. The Commission's seven point plan is a sort of emergency package to prevent excess production over the next few years by taking another step towards extensive production, towards sustainability and towards organic farming.
However, this plan does not revolutionise the system completely for the simple reason that we first need to give our incipient reforms a chance. Only a small part of the Agenda 2000 reform has really been implemented. We have only just made the first step towards an overall 20% reduction in intervention prices, with a further 7.1% to follow this year and again next year. The countermove – increasing direct payments and tripling the extensification premium – has still not entered into force by a long shot. In short, implementing Agenda 2000 fully in the year 2002 will by itself contribute towards extensive cattle-raising and less production-orientated subsidies. Today we are discussing the emergency package as a result of BSE and this neither anticipates nor replaces the mid-term review of Agenda 2000. I repeat, in 2002, i.e. next year, agricultural policy as a whole will be up for review, as demanded in Berlin.
The Commission will spend 2001 analysing individual sectors in detail, so that it can then present a comprehensive, well thought out concept for the future. We need to take our time here if we are to avoid falling prey to hurried, political posturing. The seven point plan will not take food out of the mouths of European farmers. It is our only chance of mitigating farmers' loss of earnings, at least in the medium term. The Commission cannot, unfortunately, afford to make up the loss of income in full. Unsold beef, the lack of consumer confidence and escalating costs are a highly explosive mixture which could decimate beef-farming and agricultural policy. Our seven point plan should allow us to remove the detonator from this ticking time-bomb. But our plan should also ensure that beef and veal are safer than ever for consumers and that consumer confidence is restored in beef and veal.
Allow me now to outline these seven points briefly. First, we propose to reduce the permissible stocking density for the special premium for steers and suckler cows from 2 to 1.8 livestock units. Secondly, we want the Member States to respect the so-called 90-head limit without exception, i.e. a holding will only be paid the special beef premium for a maximum of 90 animals. These two measures should increase the incentive for extensive farming. Thirdly, in order to make organic farming more attractive, we propose to allow organic farmers to cultivate fodder such as clover on set-aside areas. Fourthly, the Commission wants to set the number of rights for the special steer premium individually for each holding. This measure will also act as an incentive to reduce intensive production. Fifthly, our package also makes provision for a higher percentage – at least 20%, but no more than 40% – of animals which qualify for premiums, i.e. suckler cows, to be heifers. This should also limit beef and veal production, which depends to a considerable degree on the number of suckler cows.
Sixthly and finally, we want to set the present ceiling for intervention outside the safety net of 350 000 tonnes for 2001 and 2002, in order to prevent prices from falling even further and the safety net from having to be used in other countries or over a longer period of time.
Ladies and gentlemen, may I say that the measures which the Commission is proposing here today will not take full hold for a year or two. We have no alternative. Beef and veal production is not akin to a light-bulb factory and the agricultural Commissioner is not a foreman who can turn off the production line and watch everything grind to a halt. In the short term, we must consider what we are going to do with the huge quantities of unsold beef. With all due respect for the ethical aspects, with all due sympathy for those who say that it is a tragedy to destroy the cattle, we must not delude ourselves. Hundreds of thousands of cattle have been squashed into stalls in Europe for months because farmers cannot find anyone to buy their old livestock. The safety net has already been deployed in two Member States. This week alone we shall probably put up to 30 000 tonnes of meat into storage. And yet none of this is enough.
That brings me to the last point of the package of measures. As soon as compulsory BSE tests for animals over 30 months old have been introduced in all the Member States, we want to replace the programme of safe removal with a new special buy-up programme which allows the Member States to decide if they prefer to store beef at their own expense or if they want to remove this meat from the market straight away, in which case we and the Member States will compensate farmers jointly for the value of the animal in a ratio of 30% from the Member State and 70% from the EU.
This measure is no more than a provisional emergency measure and should not last beyond the end of this year. In the medium term, there is only one way forward and that is: act today in order to limit beef production tomorrow, promote less intensive production methods and encourage organic farming. I therefore ask you to return your opinion on today's proposal as quickly as possible. Thank you for your attention."@en1
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