Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-03-10-Speech-4-072"
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"en.20050310.6.4-072"2
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"Mr President, I should like to make a few comments on the report.
First, with regard to public support for sustainable agriculture, the action plan acknowledges the role of organic farming in society. In delivering public goods, organic farmers incur high production costs. They should be entitled to be compensated for income foregone and costs incurred when delivering those public goods. That is exactly what we recommend that Member States do within their own development programmes. On the other hand, as stated in the report, the successful development of organic farming depends crucially on customers’ willingness to pay a higher price to have organic food.
That brings me to the next point: promotion and marketing. Consumers must be given the correct information in order to stimulate demand. The Commission has already contributed to organic food information and promotion campaigns. I am fully aware that we need to make use of the best expertise available when taking the further steps set out in the plan.
I have a great deal of sympathy for your call to promote organic food for children and school canteens, but want to have advice on this from specialists. We need to be sure that we reach our target groups, and must therefore use the right channels in our marketing campaigns.
Regarding the internal market, I share your concerns about the obstacles that might hamper trade. Organic food that has been produced in accordance with all the requirements of EU legislation should have access to all EU organic markets. The European logo can play an important role in making this happen. At the same time, I see no contradiction in organic producers underlining the region of origin of their own products if they wish to.
Innovation in organic farming and food processing relies, to a great extent, on research. We have already seen an increase in organic research and there is more to come. However, it is not up to the Commission to prescribe in detail the different research subjects.
With regard to coexistence, the action plan is not the right place to address this issue, since organic farming is not the only area concerned. At the end of the year the Commission will issue a report on the national coexistence measures which will show what further steps need to be taken.
The action plan recommends that Member States make full use of the rural development policy possibilities available; not only agri-environmental measures, but also investment, extension services, quality schemes and all the other rural development elements that can be used to help organic farmers extend their production.
I appreciate the comments you have made and look forward to working with you on this important issue in the future."@en1
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