Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-02-10-Speech-1-105"
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"en.20030210.9.1-105"2
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"Mr President, the WTO negotiations on agriculture, combined with the Commission's proposals for CAP reform, represent fundamental change for European agriculture and the welfare of farm families. I have said on many occasions in this House that uncertainty about the future is having devastating consequences for farm families.
I query the degree of compatibility between the Commission's commitment to the EU agricultural model, which is based on family farming, and the proposals in the world trade negotiations. Trade liberalisation, combined with a progressive reduction in EU farm support – particularly when this reduction is to apply to those already on the margins – raises serious doubts as to our real intentions.
As for the detail of the WTO proposal, what we see once again is a desire by the Commission to exceed the mandate given to it by Member States. The cuts proposed in export subsidies, import tariffs and domestic farm support are both excessive and unnecessary. They certainly go beyond any area of commitment entered into in the Uruguay or Doha Rounds. When we see how our competitors behave - especially in the United States' Farm Bill - one has to ask why we in Europe have to lie down on every occasion and roll over. Now that the EU petition has been tabled with the WTO, I plead with the Commission to defend vigorously the vital interests of European and, indeed, Irish agriculture. Improved market access will intensify competition in the EU market. I call on the Commission to be particularly vigilant during the negotiations on the products more sensitive to this aggressive competition, in particular beef and butter. I want the Commission to ensure that only minimal tariff reductions will be applied to those sensitive sectors.
It is impossible to debate the forthcoming agricultural negotiations at the WTO without putting the matter in the context of the Commission's mid-term review last month. All six impact studies, which the Commission carried out, assumed there would be no change in the multilateral trading framework. However, this is clearly not the case.
While it is difficult to forecast the outcome of the current round, the one thing we can be certain about is that a reduction in tariff protection will be part of any agreement. Given the volume of beef and sheepmeat that is entering the EU at present levels of protection, it is equally certain that most, if not all, of the gap in the EU market created by the reduction in EU supplies will be filled by products from third countries. I ask where then are the price increases which have been forecast by all these studies to come from? Decoupling, taken together with the WTO proposals, will cause a reduction in EU production of beef and sheepmeat.
The Commission already knows my view that this will have a disproportionate impact on Ireland. Despite Commissioner Fischler being very dismissive of this when he presented his proposals to the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development last month, I still hold firmly to my view. I am not afraid to be dismissed as a merchant of doom when I hold a view borne out by hard scientific data, compiled in an independent study on behalf of the Irish Government. For example, the Commission study indicates a 3% fall in EU beef production, but a 12% fall in Irish beef production. We will have to take the worst of both worlds: a serious reduction in production with the associated consequences for the economy, including unemployment in our vital agrifood sector, and the anticipated market vacuum filled by third-country imports.
To conclude, I repeat what I said to the Commission last July when the mid-term review proposals were made and again when the legislative proposals were made last month: the combined effects of the prospect of greatly liberalised agricultural trade under the WTO and the Commission proposals for major reform of the common agricultural policy are potentially devastating for European agriculture."@en1
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