Edinburgh, 01/07/2002 (Agence Europe) - The EP's EPP-ED group's discussion on the future of the rural economy at study days in Edinburgh provided the opportunity for Commissioner Franz Fischler to stress the need to explode the CAP straitjacket and establish an enterprise culture in the countryside.
Without giving any details of the mid-term review of the CAP (that the College of Commissioners will be examining on 10 July), Franz Fischler said that he hoped to put the stress on better balance in the markets (between supply and demand), between the first and second pillar and in the breakdown of agricultural aid per sector. The French President of the EP's Agriculture Committee, Joseph Daul, expressed concern at the danger of the CAP disappearing if the "Everything but Arms" initiative is extended to all ACP countries. Fischler said that the concept could not be extended without any limits since that would prevent the production of fruit and vegetables or other products in Europe in acceptable conditions. Concerns expressed by Christa Klass about enlargement provided an opportunity for the Commissioner to point that that there was a price to pay for enlargement and to slam Chancellor Schröder's attitude, making an issue of the debate before the German elections. Small farmers are entrepreneurs and have to be supported with reasonable payments and a better balance between the two pillars, argued Fischler. Dominique Birnbaum, Director General of the Standing Assembly of the French Chambers of Agriculture, said that rural policy cannot replace genuine agricultural policy and hence direct aid under the first pillar. She said that agriculture had to better meet consumer (taxpayer) expectations and greater use of quality labels would allow agriculture to move in the direction of enriching its products.