Brussels, 10/11/2003 (Agence Europe) - Before the presentation on 18 November of the legislative proposals on reform of Mediterranean products (raw tobacco, olive oil and cotton), the Commission organised a seminar on Monday and Tuesday to hear the opinions of those expert in the matter. Commissioner Franz Fischler is aware of the criticism expressed by representatives of the sectors and regions most concerned but will explain that the principle of decoupling and restructuring is "the only way to move forward if we wish to give farmers better prospects for the future".
Tobacco: According to Mr Fischler, the proposal of reform provides the raw tobacco sector with a more than satisfactory compromise, allowing producers to reach an equitable and stable level of life by providing them with aid as guarantors of Community farming rather than as tobacco producers. The Commission explains that, for most farms, the current aid, which will be fully maintained (100% of the current rate), will simply be reallocated to the single farm payment. This, the Commission explains, means that family labour, which accounts for around 80% of total labour in the raw tobacco sector, will continue to enjoy State aid, but in a more coherent manner according to the general guidelines of Community policy. He concluded by saying that the aid provided to farmers will continue and that aid to products will disappear.
Olive oil: Community olive growers "will be well-placed to enjoy the advantages provided by the new direction that Community agricultural policy is now taking", Mr Fischler said, explaining that reform will allow the olive oil sector to benefit from the fact that greater account is taken of the market. Other advantages are: - strengthening of the EU's trading position as the leading world producer of quality olive oil; - the guarantee of a stable income for olive producers; - and the ecological, social and economic sustainability of the sector.
Cotton: According to the Commission, cotton should also "enjoy similar advantages from reform proposals" (integrating part of the current aid granted to this product into the single farm payment system and transforming the rest into a new aid for production).
We recall that the European Commission presented, on 23 September 2003, a communication presenting its ideas for reform of these sectors. For tobacco, the Commission proposes: - phasing out the system in force within three years; - decoupling of the current tobacco premium; - phasing out of the Community Tobacco Fund; - and the creation of a financial allocation intended for the restructuring of tobacco-growing regions. With regard to olive oil, the Commission proposes that 60% of payments linked to production should be converted into new single farm payment rights. Member States would keep the remaining 40% to grant an additional direct payment to olive growers with low production rates and also to olive farms that are of interest from an environmental or traditional point of view. For cotton, 60% of the spending by Member States devoted to producer aid would be transferred to the single farm payment scheme in the form of new rights, whereas the Member States would keep 40% for a new direct payment according to surface area in favour of producers.
Italian demands for tobacco growing
On the eve of the round table organised on 10 November by Commissioner Fischler on the socio-economic impact of reform of the common market organisation for tobacco, Paolo Bedoni, President of Coldiretti, set out the main demands made by the operators of this sector in Italy (a country which, he stresses in a press release, is the main European tobacco producer). Coldiretti mainly calls for: - certainty that producers are investing in "product quality", while encouraging conversion of "marginal farms to other crops" (mainly through the creation of a "national fund"; - the duration for the tobacco CMOs to be similar to that of the other sectors where reform is already accomplished (such as for cereals); - the maintenance, for Italy, of a budget of EUR 330 million; - and the possibility for each country to accomplish decoupling in a "gradual and flexible manner".