Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-03-15-Speech-4-048"

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"Mr President, the report of Mr Purvis on biotechnology comes at just the right moment. Europe is lagging behind the rest of the world and threatens to miss opportunities. The causes are mainly a fairly weak strategic vision, laborious approval procedures and non-transparent coordination between European and national legislation. The great value of this report is that it clearly describes where additional guarantees are required for producers, consumers, environment and health care. In that respect the report stands in a number of areas in glaring contrast to the letter addressed by the British and Dutch prime ministers Blair and Kok to the European Council. This letter is too bogged down in rather hollow rhetoric on opportunities, whereas Purvis rightly speaks up for the small and medium-sized business that is so important to Europe. In that respect, the government of my country has depressing examples of a zigzag policy, as was shown, for example, only last year in relation to the use of GM potatoes for non-food production. Mr President, the FAO has calculated that world food production will have to increase by two-and-a-half times in twenty years, and that there is insufficient scope for opening up new agricultural areas in the world. And those who, like the present Minister for Agriculture in Germany, Mrs Künast, retreat into small-scale production and organic farming, are in fact turning their backs on international society. A good balance between new techniques such as biotechnology, sustainability and their accommodation within a strategic food policy is indispensable. As far as that is concerned, a strong European food authority with supervisory and monitoring powers is in fact also indispensable for such policy. Mr President, I must say that with his report the honourable Member has taken an excellent first step towards a new discussion in Europe."@en1

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