Brussels, 20/07/2004 (Agence Europe) - The Agriculture Ministers of the Member States of the EU held an initial exchange of views in Brussels on Monday on the reform of the sugar sector, following the adoption of the communication of 14 July on the subject (EUROPE of 15 July, p.11). Most Member States have expressed their concern on various elements of the proposal, such as the calendar put forward to implement the reform, the details proposed to reduce prices and quotas, and the option suggested of transferring quotas. Only the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark and, to a lesser extent, the Netherlands and Germany, thought that the communication was a good basis to work from.
During a press conference after the Council, Commissioner Franz Fischler declared that "if we do not make ourselves more competitive, the European sugar sector will enter a scenario of usury, in which even our best production areas will have to reduce their production with all the negative consequences that go with it". He said that "all the ministers and all the Member States are perfectly aware of the problem we face". He feels that the need for reform is not in question: "the issue is how far we should go, and what the timetable and the details should be", he added.
The French minister, Hervé Gaymard, said that ministers should guard against rushing into a reform. He pointed out that the current regime does not expire until 30 June 2006, and that they should wait until 20 September, when the results of the contentious proceedings undertaken at the WTO are out. He referred to "four major concerns" which will guide France's position during the debates to come: maintaining "sufficient Community protection" in talks at the WTO on market access; -taking into account the "very specific conditions" of sugar production in extremely remote areas; -the need to find solutions to take the ACP countries' interests into account (as these countries will be directly affected by a drop in guaranteed prices). In this context, France called upon the Dutch Presidency to hold a meeting with the ACP countries after the summer (for example, on the sidelines of one of the forthcoming Agriculture-Fisheries Councils).