Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-11-25-Speech-3-451"
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"en.20091125.27.3-451"2
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"Madam President, I would like to begin by congratulating Mrs McGuinness on this initiative, which demonstrates the important role that the common agricultural policy (CAP) plays in meeting food provision needs internationally.
Now that the European Commission seems to want to reduce the burden of the CAP on the Community budget, it is important to stress that while the CAP may not be a priority, food sufficiency must be. In past decades, it has been clear that without the CAP, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve food sufficiency.
Agriculture cannot, therefore, be compared with other sectors of the economy which are able to thrive in a free market, because the food market is not a free market. Farmers need the support of the European Union in order for their businesses to succeed, and the European Union, in turn, needs farmers in order to maintain an agricultural model that is capable of providing sufficient food of sufficient quality to its increasingly demanding citizens.
I therefore believe that we must change the course of the CAP, but not abolish it. In order to do this, direct aid must be guaranteed to farmers and a policy of managing agricultural markets must be restored to bring about greater price stability, which would benefit not only farmers but also consumers and third countries.
A framework of best practices should be established in order to encourage balanced relations between the different players in the food chain, avoiding abusive practices and promoting fairer distribution of commercial margins.
In addition, a European consumer information policy that highlights efforts by Community producers to comply with European Union regulations in the areas of the environment, food security and animal welfare is needed, since Community producers have to compete with imports from third countries, where the standards applied are much lower.
Third-country producers prefer to export to the European Union rather than supplying their own countries’ markets because such exports are more profitable under World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements."@en1
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