Brussels, 27/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - At the Economic and Social Committee's February plenary, there was an emotionally charged debate between representatives of southern and northern Europe (and between smokers and non-smokers) on the issue of premiums and guarantee thresholds for leaf tobacco. The draft amended Opinion by Nikolaos Liolios, President of the pan-Hellenic Confederation of Agricultural Cooperative Unions, on the "Proposal for a Council Regulation fixing the premiums and guarantee thresholds for leaf tobacco by variety group and Member State for the 2002, 2003 and 2004 harvests and amending Regulation (EEC) No. 2075/92" was challenged by Inger Persson (Various Interests Group, representing Swedish consumers) who presented a counter-opinion in the plenary signed by a series of Councillors (mostly from the consumer world, but also some from Employers' and Workers' Groups). The counter-opinion was rejected in the end but did get a quarter of the votes cast (55 to 44 with 3 abstentions) and was therefore annexed to the final Opinion. The counter-opinion argued that Mr Liolios' draft Opinion went against the principles in the Commission's proposal on sustainable development in Europe for a better world in Europe, that suggests gradually cutting tobacco subsidies and instigating measures to provide new sources of revenue and work for workers employed in the tobacco industry and tobacco farmers.
When the counter-opinion was rejected, Swedish farmer Staffan Nilsson tabled several amendments to Mr Liolios' draft Opinion which the latter accepted and so a draft compromise was presented to the plenary (and adopted). The ESC stresses that since "tobacco growing is very important for social cohesion and for the survival of disadvantaged areas of the Community" and "is mainly a family occupation" so it is particularly important for the Commission to draw up proposals on all possible options for providing new sources of revenue. The ESC in its Opinion "points to the considerable delay on the Commission's part in submitting its proposal. The final decisions will, in all probability, be taken after cultivation has already started, which will undermine the work of farmers and the processing industry and seriously disrupt the functioning of the market". The ESC therefore calls on the European Commission to "extend the current tobacco regime and the validity of Regulation 660/1999 for a further three year (2002-2004), maintaining current premium levels and the guarantee thresholds (quotas) for all variety groups". It recommends that "future amendments take effect as of 2003 and that the regime for 2001 be maintained for the year 2002; to maintain at current levels throughout the 2002-2004 period the 2% deduction for premiums for the Community Tobacco Fund… and to continue to include agronomic research among the measures supported by the Fund". When presenting the Opinion to the plenary, Mr Liolios commented that tobacco farming was mostly a family affair that helped contribute to preserving the EU's landscape and sustainable agriculture in regions hit by depopulation.