Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-05-16-Speech-4-044"
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"en.20020516.2.4-044"2
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"Madam President, the statement which the Commissioner made a moment ago is one that is not likely to attract a great deal of criticism. It contained general statements. My only criticism is that it is a timeless speech. Had the Commissioner for development and cooperation given this speech fifteen, or ten, years ago, the content would have been identical. My main point of criticism is: what are the specific improvements which the Commission proposes?
Firstly, and this has been said before, the Commission should, in my view, focus on Africa. Agricultural production on the African continent lags behind the growth in population. What should the Commission do? In my view, the Commission should, in the first instance, ensure, via the delegations and the Member States, that those countries adopt a sound price policy for agricultural products. Farmers, wherever they may be in the world, are prepared to produce adequately if the circumstances permit this, provided that the prices are sound. It is always necessary to strike a balance between the interests of the people in the towns and the people in the country, but it is a sure thing that if the prices for agricultural products are not sound, farmers will stop producing and the population will become increasingly dependent on imports and food aid. Both often have fatal consequences for the local food production. I believe food aid is distributed far too easily by the Americans, among others. Europe might have the opportunity of having a heart-to-heart talk with them in the framework of the World Trade Organisation. In addition, Europe must, in my view, also be cautious when it provides food aid.
As far as the prices on the world market are concerned, we cannot influence these, but we can enter into a dialogue with the governments in the countries in question to adopt a clear price policy, thus ensuring that imports from the world market do not adversely affect local food production.
I should like to make two other points. We often think that we can solve this problem by throwing money at it and that if we gave some money to the public information services, it may be possible to solve this problem. I do not think so. If we gave money for five years, the problem would recur in five years' time. In my view, the dialogue should also be extended to include the way in which the public information services, together with the veterinary services, can become more financially independent. How can they be funded to a large extent by the local population itself? I am mainly thinking of the veterinary services, for cattle, in particular, plays an important role in Africa's food production. Vast areas that cannot be used for food production at the moment can then improve in future thanks to veterinary facilities. The Commission must play a central role in this dialogue about self-sufficiency and financial independence, and this is a far better solution than giving money alone."@en1
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