Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-02-15-Speech-3-288"
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"en.20060215.17.3-288"2
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"Mr President, I wish to begin by congratulating the rapporteur on an excellent report. The future of the rural economy depends on the success or otherwise of our future policy from 2007 to 2013. I must say I am concerned that there will not be sufficient funds to achieve a positive outcome to sustain the future under the second pillar. Rural society has been on a downward spiral for many years, and you do not need me to rehearse the problems again.
All I know is that there are no easy solutions and we cannot wave a magic wand. The rural economy has evolved over the years and there is now a heavy reliance on environmental projects. This can be a help, but on its own is no panacea for all the problems facing the rural dweller. I believe there is now too much emphasis placed and too much pressure put on such projects. There is no doubt of the need to diversify, but there are not many new ideas out there. Yet we must persevere and try to achieve our targets and we require a greater vision in the projects we support, because in the past too many projects in rural areas turned out to be white elephants.
As far as we in Northern Ireland are concerned, we will not see any change unless we achieve a totally different approach from our planning services. They are living in the past, looking through rose-tinted glasses and looking back to a time that no longer exists. If we are to achieve anything in this, we must be adventurous and innovative; we must encourage the development of more small and medium-sized enterprises and more micro-industries in rural areas. If a farmer, his son or his daughter has an opportunity or an idea to develop their farm or to diversify, they should be encouraged to do so and to expand and not be forced into the nearest town or village. This is the way forward. We cannot afford to live in a time warp.
One other concern of mine is that some Member States will give these proposals good support and others, including my own, will do what they have always done with such initiatives: nothing! The way forward for rural development is one of vision and confidence; above all, we must look to the future!"@en1
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