Strasbourg, 15/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - At the end of his meetings with MEPs on Tuesday 15 February in Strasbourg, the French minister for agriculture, Bruno Le Maire, outlined the main orientations and red lines laid down by France with regard to maintaining the financial resources of the CAP; regulation of the financial markets in a situation of price volatility for raw materials; and an agreement with Mercosur that is exclusively based on clear reciprocity for health and environmental rules imposed on European farmers.
Reform of the CAP. Le Maire declared that discussions with the European Parliament were “progressing” and going in the direction of “maintaining resources for the CAP… We do not want the CAP to lose a single euro. We need a strong budget if we want a strong CAP. We also want to make progress with regulation of the agricultural markets. In the discussions on the milk package and the remarkable work accomplished by Dacian Cioloº (Ed: Commissioner for Agriculture), we could reach an agreement on a certain number of measures to regulate the market and combat price volatility, as well as having a market that is organised in a more fair and advantageous way for producers, who are the weakest link of all in the food chain”. Although he welcomes the Lyon report on the budget, which “very clearly” establishes (together with the support of parliamentarians “from all the different political tendencies”) that maintaining financial resources is necessary, Le Maire is also satisfied with progress on the chapter on the EU's agricultural policy for regulation. He is delighted that “Europe, previously committed to total liberalisation of the agricultural markets, which was madness, is now returning to the idea of regulation; our ideas are making progress”. Nevertheless, he underlines the necessity of the CAP “gaining further legitimacy” during the reform of the 2013 financial perspectives. In this connection, “the greening proposed by Mr Cioloº should be defended, provided that it does not incur additional administrative charges for European farmers”, he adds.
EU/Mercosur free trade agreement. The day after the visit of the commissioner for trade, Karel De Gucht, to Paraguay and Uruguay and on the eve of the exchange of offers in March, Le Maire is underscoring the need for an agreement “on the basis of strict reciprocity between the rules on European producers and those required for products coming from outside the EU. We cannot ask European producers to respect health, environmental and animal welfare rules, which are the strictest in the world and at the same time get rid of customs tariffs for products coming from other continents but which do not respect the same rules 100%. If this occurs, it is unfair competition and trade that is not on the same footing”.
Raw materials and price volatility. The president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, has made the fight against price fluctuations in raw materials and foodstuffs the priority of his presidency of the G20. “This is not just a European challenge, it is a global one. This involves feeding the planet in an appropriate way”, explains Le Maire. He added that “volatility is a problem for everyone on the planet. When the price of wheat per tonne changes from €110 to €260 in the space of a few months, it is a problem for all farmers, rearers and consumers in France, Brazil and China”. He also identified “the risk of instability and food riots in certain parts of the world, particularly Africa”. France is therefore proposing to advocate four different orientations. Firstly, promoting the dependence of developing countries by developing their agricultural production. The French minister insists that “the main responsibility of the G20 is to ensure the economy of developing countries”. He is hoping that the release of $20 billion promised to this effect during the G8 summit in L'Aquila in 2008, will be done “in the right conditions”. Paris is therefore proposing further stock transparency. Le Maire asserts that “if we had greater transparency on stocks of wheat, corn and rice throughout the world, we would have less volatility. Everyone should make an effort with regard to this”. The third proposal involves increased co-operation between G20 countries. The French minister affirms that “at the WTO, there are mechanisms for import restriction limitations. Why are there no export limitation restrictions at the G20, particularly to developing countries? If a country is experiencing an agricultural crisis, it limits its exports to guarantee the domestic food security of its own citizens, but it prevents restrictions towards the poorest countries”. Finally, France is appealing for regulation of the financial markets for agricultural raw materials. “This is not an anti-market measure. It aims to organise the market better, whilst preventing speculation and financial operators being able to artificially reduce available stocks by buying very high volumes and selling them two or three days later at the higher prices that they themselves have created”. (E.H./transl.fl)