Brussels, 15/12/2009 (Agence Europe) - The dairy sector is to receive €300 million in emergency aid in the 2010 budget, but other agricultural sectors are experiencing difficulties which cannot be ignored. In her final appearance before the European Parliament, Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel noted the fall in demand in several sectors and the difficulties of many farmers, particularly with regard to access to credit and prices. Estimates for farmers' incomes will not be available for another week, but Fischer Boel quickly reviewed the situation on (1) cereals: “Despite a significant fall in prices in 2008, the Commission feels it would not be appropriate to take exceptional measures”; (2) pig meat: “Here too, the fall does not justify putting in place emergency instruments, but the situation must be closely monitored”; (3) fruit and vegetables have seen a fall in consumption and, for some products, in exports; producers' organisations account for around 40% of production, and the Commissioner says cooperation among these organisations must be encouraged; it is, however, the organisations themselves that have to act, without competing with one another and without expecting the Commission to do everything; (4) olive oil: after the record prices of four year ago, there have been three good harvests, and the economic crisis has only had a slight impact on this sector. Fischer Boel's conclusion was that gentle signs of recovery did not mean that there can be any relaxation in watchfulness. Nor must the medium term be forgotten, the Commissioner said, particularly in terms of added value along the food chain and price volatility.
It was the S&D group which, on 1 December, called on the Commission to make this statement, pointed out Italian Paolo de Castro, one of many speakers to highlight the importance of agriculture for the good of all “from north to south”, and he called on the Commission not to restrict itself to short-term measures but to reflect on the future. For the EPP, German Albert Dess agreed with that analysis, arguing further for a lightening of the administrative burden placed on farmers. “We have to let them do what they do best,” he urged. German Green Martin Häusling said that it was the whole CAP approach that was wrong: too much liberalisation, too much industrialisation could only harm the industry, he said. Similarly, Frenchman Patrick Le Hyaric (GUE/NGL) lambasted deregulation and demanded that agricultural work be recognised as being of “general interest”: the CAP must also be a food, environmental and territorial policy, he said. He added that there had to be guaranteed basic minimum prices to provide for agricultural wages. Other MEPs, including Marian Harkin (ALDE, Ireland) and John Stuart Agnew (EFD, UK), were concerned by the EU position on genetically modified organisms. Agnew wanted a less extreme, more pragmatic attitude on these products. Others raised specific problems: the difficulties being faced by sheep farmers in Great Britain (James Nicholson, CRE, UK), the durum wheat crisis in Italy Giovanni La Via (EPP), the “disastrous” situation facing Portuguese smallholders (Ilda Figueiredo GUE/NGL). Julie Girling (CRE, UK) called for labelling to be extended to all sectors, specifying both the origin and ingredients of agricultural products. The EU had to come to the assistance of farmers, said Iratxe Garcia Perez (S&D, Spain), since crisis intervention could not be allowed to depend on each state's ability to respond.
A “caretaker Commission” could not be asked to take new initiatives Fischer Boel said, closing the debate, while announcing that, on Wednesday, the Commission would propose a number of measures to cut red tape for farmers. She rejected the charge that there was no longer any safety net for farmers: there was, she said the “continuous” safety net of direct payments, and the one provided by exceptional measures. The Lisbon Treaty, the Commissioner remarked, gave the Parliament a greater role on the Common Agricultural Policy, particularly in terms of the budget. “You will have a huge influence, and even if it is not from this place, I guarantee that I will keep an eye on you,” Ms Fischer Boel told MEPs. (L.G./transl.rt)