Strasbourg, 19/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - The first Euro-Mediterranean conference on agriculture, organised by the Mediterranean Committee of IFAP (International Federation of Agricultural Producers) under the aegis of the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, was held on 14 and 15 June in Strasbourg. This committee groups professional organisations from all Mediterranean rim countries, whether EU members or not, including former Yugoslavia and the Turkish part of Cyprus, Israel and Palestine.
Giuseppe Avolio (Italian), chairing the committee, called for similar meetings to be held every three years. Delegates from countries applying for EU membership also took part at the conference, which resulted in several recommendations as follows: - Agriculture must be placed at the heart of the Barcelona Process and a meeting of agriculture ministers from the twenty-seven countries must be convened in the near future; - old disputes between producers of the region must be overcome, as bordering Member States have undertaken to do, through diversification and quality promotion; - consultation must be organised between professional circles in all branches, including distribution to consumers, for the promotion of Mediterranean products; - more sustained attention must be given to the question of "sustainable cooperation", meeting the typically "multifunctional" nature of Mediterranean agriculture; - there must be coordinated management of water resources; - common defence of Mediterranean agriculture must be organised at the WTO also in order to prevent it from being marginalised, at European internal level, compared to northern production.
As work opened, Mr Avolio recalled the joint effort made by all affiliated organisations to give substantial content to farming cooperation in the Mediterranean area. The president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Lord Russell-Johnston, asked that no wall should be built up, as this would be a "stupid decision" giving the EU the "image of an opulent fortress nurtured on fear and prejudice". This opinion was clearly contradicted by Chairman of the EP Committee on Agriculture Friedrich-Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf (Greens, Germany), who geared all his speeches (during the two days and during the initial press conference) to the duty of restricting the entry of products from third countries to the Community market. The MEP strongly affirmed his determination to preserve the income of European farmers from the effects of "agricultural dumping" that can be seen in practices of partner countries, and from competition from bordering Member States: "every morning, I pray that Italian and Spanish new potatoes will not come onto my Westphalian market too soon", he said, drawing bitter comments from almost all speakers. Criticism was so strong and direct that the Green MEP preferred not to draw the final conclusions of the meeting as planned.
One of the vice-presidents of the European Parliament, Renzo Imbeni (Democratici di sinistra), stressed during the opening session the value of having a "vision of the future", mainly for alleviating the impact that globalisation will have on European farmers and on the Mediterranean countries. He also insisted on the need to result in better diversification and guaranteed product quality - mainly at health level - and to guarantee sustainable development of a Mediterranean agriculture considered vulnerable from a social point of view. "Competition is dangerous for everyone", said Mr Imbeni. He, like most speakers, insisted on the need to pay greater attention to future problems linked to water resource management. Mr Avolio recommended in this connection the creation of a single water authority in the Mediterranean. He hoped that the EU would make an active contribution to this, mainly through support taken from MEDA resources. Several speakers, including Mr Imbeni and Luc Guyeau, IFAP President, regretted that cooperation in this field of agriculture was not adopted among the aims of the Barcelona Process. They called for it to be included in the prospect of free trade, but in the context of "controlled liberalisation".
The two days of discussions illustrated the need - proclaimed unanimously, except by the Green MEP - to imagine more sustained means of cooperation between producers on both sides of the Mediterranean. Gradual liberalisation of trade and concerted diversification would, it is generally believed, best exploit the potential of Mediterranean farm production as a whole, mainly with a view to enlargement and market access for candidate countries. The higher standard of living in these countries should stimulate consumer demand, and the promotion of a single label based on the reputation of the healthy "Mediterranean food regime".
Fischler: insufficiently exploited potential
During a brief speech in Strasbourg, European Commissioner for Agriculture Franz Fischler announced his intention to take greater account of the specific features of Mediterranean agriculture, in an area of which large portion is part of the Community territory. Mr Fischler called for a prudent liberalisation of trade, while hoping for the acceleration of the Barcelona process and the establishment of a network of Association Agreements. According to him, the effort will only be truly fruitful when the "horizontal" trade between the Mediterranean countries has been developed. Mr Fischler also insisted on the need to promote in the Mediterranean a policy of quality agricultural products, whose diversification must be ensured, and suggested to establish better marketing structures. The potential for the development of trade, in both directions, has not been fully exploited in the past, felt Mr Fischler.