Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-09-02-Speech-1-097"
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"en.20020902.8.1-097"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I too wish to join in thanking the rapporteur, as the work he has done here is most valuable. The BSE crisis and the resultant ban on the use of animal bonemeal in feed have significantly increased the demand for replacement source of protein in the area of animal feedingstuffs. The shortage of plant protein is made a live issue by the EU's low level of self-sufficiency, to which reference is often made these days.
This situation makes a European protein plan urgently necessary in order to promote the cultivation of protein plants, thereby reducing our dependence on imports and giving us more varied sources of supply. I would bring to your attention the fact that the EU, the most significant importer in the world, gets by far and away most of its plant proteins from the USA, Argentina and Brazil, and that these are very often genetically modified ones.
Our concern here is not only with the cultivation of soya and rape, but to an equal degree with seed flax, camelina and many other plant proteins. It is for that reason that I attach particular importance to the products' traceability, in order for transparency to give consumers choice, quality and confidence that the food is safe. Over and above this, the cultivation of protein-rich cultures contributes to the diversity of crop rotation by making it possible to reduce input and by preventing the rise of monocultures.
If it were possible to utilise set-aside areas, that would be a practical approach. Whilst, of course, safeguarding Budget neutrality, it is not only cultivation of organic areas that needs to be promoted, as the Commission proposes, but conventional agriculture should also have the opportunity to cultivate plant proteins, fodder legumes and so on, in their fields, benefiting from the EU's environmental programmes.
The production of oilseeds for use in biofuels and building materials gives, in fact, further significant impetus to agriculture. What I seek at the international level is for the Blair House agreement to be at last seriously reconsidered and for all parties to see the urgent necessity of facilitating the production of plant protein in the EU in accordance with the regulations. I do believe that a genuinely serious discussion on this has to be set in train at European level, for we are well aware that biofuels are environmentally friendly and can also be produced without prior energy input. Whilst remaining within the financial framework, the EU needs to promote the use of plants in protein production with the minimum possible delay, in order to secure an independent supply of protein for farmers and European agriculture, facilitate energy generation and thus reduce our dependence on fossil energy. We are all aware that Europe imports something like 60% of its energy."@en1
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