Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-04-23-Speech-1-214"
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"en.20070423.22.1-214"2
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".
Mr President, having taken the oath this afternoon, I intend, in my maiden speech, to address the issue of potatoes, starch potatoes to be precise. This might almost have been foreordained, since I grew up with a father who used to like to read German children’s books to me – something which might be to Mr Graefe zu Baringdorf’s liking – and there would always be a story about ‘
’ – the meaning of the potato. I have no idea who the author was, but my father enjoyed reading it to me, and the fact that my maiden speech is about potatoes cannot be a coincidence.
Joking aside, this Commission proposal is, of course, of major importance to a number of regions in Europe, including the north-east of my own country where the potato starch industry has generated considerable employment and production. This sector, and therefore the producers and their regions, stand to benefit from clarity and certainty where planning and management in their individual businesses is concerned, certainly following the sweeping CAP reforms in 2003 and given the uncertainties associated with WTO negotiations, which are still in progress.
As somebody has already pointed out, when the current potato starch system was last extended, this House would have preferred it to have been for a longer period. Whilst the Commission is now suggesting once again to extend by two years, the rapporteur turned this into three years and the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development was the last one to pipe in with its suggestion of four years. This is, as I see it, a clear message in the direction of the Commission and Council. In principle, there is support for the proposed extension, but ideally for a slightly longer period of time, so that those involved know where they stand in the next few years. Knowing where you stand also means, in my view, sticking with the existing quota for that period of time. In this light, proposals to extend quotas in individual Member States do not in any event enjoy our support."@en1
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