Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-04-22-Speech-2-267"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20080422.49.2-267"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, half way through this century the number of people living on our planet will exceed 9 billion. In addition to population growth we shall see an increase in the demand for food, something we are short of even now – and not just in third countries, but in European countries too. Europe and the world can look forward to a major food crisis.
The European Union’s common agricultural policy, which is based on orders, prohibitions, quotas and contingents, has meant that some states profit from a food crisis while others lose out. Only a few EU countries will come out well from this. Sadly the great majority will suffer losses, including Poland – until recently the EU’s third largest food producer, which in the past could have fed its population twice over.
Food shortages are going hand in glove with higher costs. According to the World Bank, in the last three years food prices have risen by a total of 83%; they are still rising and they will continue to do so.
The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the governments of many countries know that food shortages threaten the biological security of peoples. Following interventions by numerous representatives, including some from Poland, the European Union released 2 900 000 hectares of fallow land for cereal production and increased the milk quota by 2%. This did not solve the problem, though. The short-sighted EU agricultural policy is still in place. Processing plants are being closed, cultivation areas are dwindling, trees are being grown on arable land and many other actions are being taken that limit food production.
Who will provide us with healthy, cheap foods in the future? American producers certainly will, although they will not be healthy, as they will be genetically modified. Why, then, are we waiting? We already know, surely, that the EU’s agricultural policy as implemented to comply with the expectations of certain interest groups is a road to nowhere, or better, to a loss of biological security in the EU and a deterioration in the situation throughout the world. We therefore need not only a review of the common agricultural policy, but also a re-negotiation of the treaties concluded and a new solution for the future."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples