Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-06-06-Speech-3-257"
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".
Commissioner, I would like to begin by thanking you, not just for being here, but also for your cooperation and willingness to work with me.
Parliament has expressed, and will express tomorrow, its opposition to the lifting of the ban on growing fruit and vegetables in eligible areas. At least until the Commission presents an impact study, as demanded by the Court of Justice.
We are calling for the strengthening of producer organisations, in the way that has already been mentioned: increasing their funding to 6%. And in cases of the 60% increase in assistance, as the Commissioner has quite rightly said, I hope that certain requests will be taken into account, such as integrated production or designations of origin.
Where we have achieved a great compromise, because it is very important, because it is a fragile sector, is on the need to create the Security Fund for crisis management.
Having heard what you have said, I believe that, right now, this is where Parliament’s almost unanimous position differs most from that of the Commission.
We have expressed our support, and we continue to do so, for a crisis Security Fund that is open to all producers – including non-associated producers — and two-thirds funded by the European Union and a third by producer organisations.
We also stress the need for a price observatory. Our future in this sector does not lie in subsidies, but in the market. And we must have reliable and up-to-date information on the evolution of the markets.
Finally, decoupling, I am delighted to hear that there is at last a glimpse of the possibility of a transitional period. There are certain dual-use products, such as tomatoes and citrus fruits, which, under the initial proposal, could lead to the abandonment of production.
We therefore firmly advocate a transitional period, and let us hope that it is not as short as has been suggested here this evening, but sufficient for the sector to be able to continue adapting to the single payment scheme.
I hope that that voluntary transitional period can allow for some kind of partial decoupling that could be a transitional measure.
We also stress the need to strengthen aid for red fruits. I am also delighted to hear what you have said, because I believe that this is clearly a need that Parliament has indicated and the Commission has considered.
The truth is that we are dealing with the reform of a very important sector, which you know very well. It represents 17% of our end agricultural output, but it only receives about 3% of the aid.
I would like to end by thanking everybody who has helped me during this year of work, the shadow rapporteurs and all of the officials from the European Commission for their contributions, for cooperating with me, the committee secretariat and everybody, because I believe that the report that we will vote on tomorrow, which is the result of a broad consensus, has also been enriched by the contributions of the other groups and of the whole of society.
It is true that the sector that we are discussing today is very dynamic. It is also, however, a very fragile sector, with structural problems, exposed to increasing external pressure and the pressure of large-scale distribution.
The report that we are debating today and that we will vote on tomorrow is the result of a long period of work. It is an open report, and I believe that this Parliament’s position has always been open with regard to the Commission. We have always sought agreements, but at the same time it is a realistic report.
It is complicated, because we are dealing with forty different products for twenty-seven countries. It is no surprise that it received more than 380 amendments in the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, but it is also the case that there were only two votes against it.
Not everything in your proposal, in the Commission's proposal, seems to us to be negative, by any means. It is very important that producer organisations should be seen as the cornerstone of the reform from the outset. The truth is, however, that in Parliament, and in the whole of the European Union's sector, there are certain problems that, in all of the Member States, we have seen as priorities within the reform.
Firstly, the decoupling of aid for processed products, as the Commissioner has quite rightly pointed out. The second problem is the lifting of the ban on growing fruit and vegetables in areas eligible for the single payment. And, above all, we in Parliament would stress the lack of a genuine crisis management mechanism.
I believe that the European Parliament has made a great effort to achieve consensus with a view to reaching agreements on these three issues.
Firstly, we are in favour of maintaining the current marketing rules. It is true that they should be rather simpler, but we are in favour of maintaining those marketing rules."@en1
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