Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-06-06-Speech-1-157"
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"en.20050606.17.1-157"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, without rural development there will be no further agricultural development. This theory is backed up by economic and environmental arguments, as well as by social arguments, including those relating to demographic issues.
I come from Lubelszczyzna, a region in eastern Poland that is one of the 10 poorest in the European Union. The majority of people there live in rural areas and run small farms that cover an average of around eight hectares. There is an urgent need for these farms to be amalgamated and their lands merged, as farmers often work several dozen different plots. Instead of receiving assistance, however, to date most of these farmers have been deprived of the opportunity to grow profitable crops, such as flax, hemp and tobacco, and recently even soft fruit.
Direct payments for small farms do not provide any guarantee that the people working there will receive a decent income. The people living in rural areas are therefore even more worthy of our attention than such matters as the management of these areas and agricultural and forestry production. This is all the more true because rural areas are very rich in cultural and environmental terms, in spite of being poor in economic terms. Natural landscapes, local dialects and cultural traditions have been preserved there, as well as the ethical and moral values that European society is so sorely in need of today. We must ensure that these values remain intact for future generations that will follow us.
People living in poor regions are in need of particular assistance. It is to be welcomed that the Council regulation on support for rural development by the EAFRD we are discussing also covers such issues as the provision of advice, professional training and tourism, even though it unfortunately does not go far enough in this respect. It is particularly important that we do not neglect the education of young people. We must not forget that we will only achieve our desired results if the measures we take are both comprehensive and well – thought out.
Finally, I should like to pay tribute to Mrs Schierhuber, who has dealt with a difficult subject and many amendments in an exemplary fashion. I would offer her my congratulations."@en1
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