Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-03-24-Speech-3-237"
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"en.20100324.18.3-237"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, with market globalisation and the severe crisis now affecting Europe, including in the agricultural sector, one possible response on the part of the agricultural market is to place emphasis on product quality.
I believe that a good EU quality policy can enhance competitiveness and create added value for Europe’s regional economies, since, for many rural areas where production alternatives are few, it is often the one and only opportunity for development. By supporting niche agriculture in these disadvantaged areas, we will create an economy and jobs there.
Furthermore, a future quality policy must also be linked to the major potentialities of agriculture which, as in the European case, is modern, dynamic, rich and diversified and can offer not only high quality food products but also services of great value to a constantly evolving society.
In my report, I emphasised the importance of keeping the three systems for registration of geographical indications separate, since they represent the link with European regions, representing their traditions, history, taste and unique knowledge handed down over time.
I therefore believe that, by keeping the two PDO and PGI systems separate, they take account of the specific differences in the nature and strength of the links between the products and their geographical area of production. Consumers often confuse the geographical indication of where a food product was processed with the place of origin of the agricultural product as such, and are often not aware of how the food chain operates.
I therefore consider that only the compulsory indication of the place of production of the primary products can provide consumers with full information on the quality of the products they are buying, since products are subject to a production cycle which exerts considerable influence on their characteristics in terms of quality and food safety. Let us remember that it is our duty to protect what our fellow citizens, who voted for us, produce and eat.
Another two issues that I considered important to include in my report are as follows: the importance of an intensive campaign of consumer education and information, which the European Union should undertake concerning the various European labels and the guarantees they represent, and the inclusion in international registries and international recognition through the WTO system of geographical indications. This last point is vitally important if we want to protect against the counterfeiting of our high quality products.
I would like to thank Commissioner Cioloş for his attendance and remind him of the importance of sufficiently protecting quality systems, which are our future, and remind him too that the economy of disadvantaged rural areas can be boosted by agricultural sector aid, to safeguard all those niche products that are typical of these areas and that keep the people connected to the locality, which would otherwise be abandoned. This would support respect for the environment and for the landscape and would create, where possible, a tourist and oenogastronomy economy linked to the various regional, cultural and historical differences in the European Union.
I would like to thank my colleagues for the support they gave me in the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and I hope that the European Parliament will also give its support during the vote tomorrow."@en1
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