Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-09-11-Speech-2-739-000"
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"en.20120911.43.2-739-000"2
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"Mr President, with due respect to the Commissioner, I would have hoped that the Agricultural Commissioner might have been here tonight to answer our questions but I am sure the Commissioner here will do a very good job in trying to reply.
Our debate tonight is focused on the Commission’s management of the EU sugar market regime following the reforms of 2006. According to our cane refiners, and Tate & Lyle in particular, they claim that the Commission forecast in 2006 of 3.5 million tonnes of cane imports to the EU from the ACP countries has failed to materialise, and the Commission so far has refused to allow in enough tariff-free imports from other countries, such as Brazil, to make up the difference.
They claim this has led to rocketing raw material costs and reduced throughput in their factories by up to 40%, which is driving up costs and making them uncompetitive against beet producers in the EU market. They argue that unless the Commission takes action to allow more raw material into the EU market, sugar refiners are going to close and jobs in many EU countries will be lost. They say all they want is fair competition and a level playing field, and it is the Commission’s actions that are preventing that from happening.
We also have the counter-arguments from the beet growers, who claim the market is balanced, and that the Commission forecast of 3.5 million tonnes of imports has materialised, as it includes both raw and white sugar, and the EU must not allow imports of cane from Brazil as it would undermine the preferred suppliers in the ACP countries. They also claim that it is the failure of the cane sector to reconstruct and rationalise after the 2006 reform that is the real root cause of the problem.
So the question is: who is right and what action needs to be taken? There is no doubt in my mind that there is a real problem in the cane sector and I want to hear from the Commissioner here tonight what action she is going to take to ensure there is a level playing field for both beet and cane processors."@en1
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