Strasbourg, 13/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - By adopting, with 347 in favour, 120 against and 35 abstentions, the report tabled by Joseph Daul (French, EPP) on the reform of the common market organisation (CMO) for sugar, the European Parliament rejected the main provisions of the draft regulation aimed at extending for two years the current regime on production quotas at guaranteed prices (see EUROPE of 2 March, p.9). It sided with the ten Member States calling for the regime to be retained until 2006, date that coincides with the end of the financial perspectives agreed at the Berlin Summit.
Parliament wants several important amendments to the Commission's proposal and, notably calls for: - the retention of the compensation scheme for the cost of storage and the obligation of minimum storage; - the perpetuation of the current mode of funding export refunds for the 60,000 tonnes of sugar used by the chemicals industry; - extension of the institutional prices of white sugar, crude sugar and beet sugar from 2001 to 2006 (as against 2001 to 2003, according to the Commission). The EP also rejects the structural decrease of 115,000 tonnes a year in production quotas and recommends maintaining quotas at their present level. This reduction, say MEPs, would be harmful given the possible increase in consumption, and place EU producers is a state of inferiority in relation to producers in applicant countries. The introduction, proposed by the Commission, of specific environmental measures for this sector is regarded as "discriminatory and totally unrealistic in their implementation deadlines". The EP also calls for certain regions (like southern Italy) to be able to continue to benefit from national assistance to complete their structural adjustment process.
During the debate, Mr. Daul placed emphasis on the need "to allow the CMO to function on the current bases, for five more years". He disagreed with the detractors of the Community sugar regime who systematically invoke the artificially high price of sugar in the European Union and the cost to the Community system. He, notably, recalled that the CMO had a particularly low cost for EU finances whereas it remained important for the sector as a whole. In addition, 75% of sugar is consumed in the form of processed products the price of which evolves independently of the price of sugar.
The rapporteur received broad support from all political groups. For the EPP/ED Group, Franz-Xavier Mayer (CSU) called for an extension of at least five years of the current system, that must not be changed. Greek Socialist Alexandros Baltas said that the "sugar" regime had to stay to preserve the interests of Community beet farmers, whose crops are programmed over four years, and sugar cane. Danish Liberal Niels Busk accused the Commission of not having provided for the funding of the CMO for the 2003-2006 period and hoped for an extension of the CMO until 2005. As for the chair of the Agricultural committee, German Green Friedrich Graefe zu Baringdorf, he said that "the sugar market works well", whence it has to remain.
In his reply, Commissioner Franz Fischler said that the Commission may agree to the CMO being extended for a period of over 2 years, on condition that all the other aspects of the reform are approved. He rejected all the amendments aimed at not altering the basic quotas, increasing them or reducing them more than what the Commission proposes. Placing emphasis on the need not to encourage the storing of excess production, he also rejected the amendments with as goal to maintain a minimum quantity of storage and the latter's support mechanism.