Brussels, 12/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - At a debate in Strasbourg on the agricultural crisis on Tuesday 12 April, virtually all MEPs said that the measures taken to date do not go far enough because there has not been an improvement in the markets.
Several MEPs regretted the way agriculture is serving as an adjustment variable in the trade talks underway with Mercosur and the United States. Members of the EP called for a strengthening of the power of producers in the food chain.
The chair of the EP's agriculture committee, Czeslaw Adam Siekierski (EPP, Poland), asked the European Commission a number of questions about the effectiveness of measures that have been taken and feasible new measures to relieve the pressure on the farm sector.
Albert Dess (EPP, Germany) said the situation was of great concern and the measures currently being taken do not go far enough. He said the intervention system didn't work and the Commission should introduce a new system to withdraw products from the market without waiting for prices to fall. Paolo De Castro (S&D, Italy) called on the Commission to urgently find responses to crises and discuss a mid-term review of the CAP. James Nicholson (CRE, United Kingdom) regretted that agriculture was subject to horse-trading with Mercosur and in the TTIP talks. Jan Huitema (ADLE, the Netherlands) recommended introducing genuinely structural measures and winning new markets. Lidia Senra Rodriguez (GUE/NGL, Spain) said that the solution required public policies to regulate production and talked about fair sharing of the right to production. Martin Häusling (Greens/EFA, Germany) slammed the policies of the past that are being used, such as stockpiling, which “prolongs the crisis”. John Stuart Agnew (ELDD, United Kingdom) talked about the Commission's plan to ban herbicides containing glyphosate.
“We are treading water”, said Michel Dantin (EPP, France), regretting that despite the sequence of measures taken, nothing had changed out on farms. He pointed out that more than 70% of the EP had called for a mechanism to restrict production in times of crisis, but the mechanism was not chosen in the interinstitutional negotiations in the end. He said this type of mechanism can only succeed if applied to all European countries, thus criticising à la carte usage of Article 222 for the voluntary management of production volumes. Eric Andrieu (S&D, France) said that Commissioner Phil Hogan had not understood the depth of the crisis. Commenting on the talks with Mercosur, Andrieu said the Agriculture Commissioner should categorically refuse any offer that includes sensitive products, particularly beef.
Beata Gosiewska (CRE, Poland) said that the Commission had not unveiled serious proposals and asked for a guarantee of decent prices for farmers in the food chain. Clara Eugenia Aguilera Garcia (S&D, Spain) also regretted the fact that the measures taken to date do not go far enough, while Marc Tarebella (S&D, Belgium) said that the CAP went against the stream of farm policies in the United Stales, Brazil and China. He called for “contra cyclical” tools to be made available to EU farmers. More money and flexibility is needed in the CAP, said Hannu Takkula (ADLE, Finland). Richard Ashworth (CRE, UK) was slightly reassuring, saying that in the long run, farmers' situation would be positive. He asked the Commission to encourage more competitive agriculture thanks to innovation and a simplifying the rules.
“I share your concerns”, said Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan at the end of the debate. He said he would use “all the instruments at my disposal in terms of legislation and the EU budget”. The reason for the crisis? He talked about overproduction in the dairy and pork sectors and the impact of the Russian embargo on EU agri-food products (which has led to a €5.2 billion fall in exports). He listed measures taken recently (intervention caps, voluntary reduction of production, see other articles) along with the flexibility granted under state aid rules. In response to Paolo De Castro (S&D, Italy), he said the CAP was not being renationalised. Hogan said that €56 billion of the EU budget was being spent on the CAP this year.
We will continue to open up new markets, promised the Commissioner, saying that for him, it was very difficult to find more money taking account of the fact that the money already available hasn't been used. He asked the EP to submit ideas about the role of farmers in the food chain that he would transfer to the task force on agricultural markets, which will be publishing its report in September. The task force is considering instruments that can protect farmers from price volatility, explained the Commissioner. Hogan said he hoped the most recent measures would have an immediate impact and improve EU farmers' financial situation in 2016. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)