Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-09-04-Speech-2-365"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20070904.29.2-365"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, I would also first like to thank the rapporteur for her excellent work which has allowed us at all times to feel comfortable with her proposals. I would also like to thank her especially for allowing the oral amendment I tabled on the school-milk scheme.
Low morale among farmers who feel insecure about the future of something which they viewed as their own, as a capital asset, namely the quota, whose forthcoming removal has been announced, is one of the barriers to relaunching milk production in Europe; the same was true in its day of the sharp drop in milk prices which led to many producers moving to more profitable, but less labour-intensive crops; those producers will no longer be able to benefit from the price rise.
The arduous job of the dairy farmer is compounded by difficulties in obtaining a quota, difficulties in obtaining cattle… Were you aware, Commissioner that at present European dairy-farmers are having to go to countries like Canada or the United States to buy dairy cows because they cannot find cattle to buy in the Community market?
In view of all this, Commissioner, I would ask you to react, and I am sure you will, appropriately to these new circumstances, circumstances that were unthinkable only twelve months ago and whose consequences for the agricultural food production sector we should begin to debate.
In my opinion we should not merely hope, as I have read in your blog, that the competitiveness of European farmers in world markets will not be too badly affected, but react rapidly to prevent that from becoming the case.
Having said that, what I would like to do is reiterate my criticism on moving this mini-reform forward when major reform of the COM is anticipated next year and November will see a CAP ‘Health Check’, and as yet, Commissioner, we obviously do not know whether this will have any consequences for the sector.
But today, Commissioner, reality, and Mr Stevenson explained this, is taking us in other directions. The price crisis in agricultural produce has resurrected the debate on the issue of agricultural food production in Europe.
My assessment of the milk crisis differs from yours. In my opinion, the main cause of the rise in milk prices lies not in increased consumption in Asia but in low Community productivity. Indeed, yield last season was the lowest of the last 15 years.
Some organisations say that Europe is likely to need an extra thousand million litres per year to satisfy its needs. Certainly, today, consumers are overwhelmed by the increase in prices of basic foods and farmers in turn by the price of cattle feed.
Although like you I am of the view that producing biofuels is neither the ultimate nor the main cause of the rise in prices, we should not be fooled, there are others. Neither a fall in set-aside nor a reduction in fallow land will be enough to stabilise prices.
The Commission should be very alert to other types of current speculation, such as the speculation on the stock markets. Large groups will easily be able to pass the increase in prices of raw materials on to the consumer, in fact they are doing this already, but this will be much more difficult for local producers to do, and therefore the rise will penalise the more fragile SMEs most of all.
Indeed, as Mr Stevenson has just said, the increase is not being reflected in the price charged by farmers; they blame the gap between the price paid to them and the price paid by the consumer on a Common Agricultural Policy based on promoting set-aside.
That being the case, Commissioner, I would advise you not to come here and tell us that quota removal will be implemented gradually."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples