Brussels, 23/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Monday in Strasbourg the parliamentary commission on agriculture and rural development adopted the resolution of Jean-Claude Fruteau (PES, France), which heavily criticised the measures proposed by the European Commission (July 2004) for reforming the Common Market Organisation (CMO) on sugar. A vote will take place on the text in March.
Reductions in prices and quotas: MEPs criticised the reduction in prices proposed by the Commission (-33% of the total for institutional prices and -37% for minimum sugar beet). According to MEPs, this goes beyond what is needed in WTO rules, whereas it should be limited to what is “strictly necessary” for keeping up sustainable production in the EU, which is also able to perform and respect WTO rules in their entirety. According to the text, reduction in the cumulative price of this and production quotas “threatens the viability of the sector” in the most vulnerable and competitive regions. MEPs also want the Commission to propose solutions for the future of sugar C, notably, possible alternatives to the use of sugar in an effort to provide new prospects for Community production, particularly in the perspective of the development of bio-fuels. The Commission is suggesting that A and B are merged into a single quota but that the current provisions for sugar C are maintained.
Compensation aid: MEPs consider that losses that could ensure are not covered by sufficient compensation. According to the Commission, 60% of the lost income of producers will be compensation by a single payment for each farm in all Member States. MEPs are proposing that if there is a limited fall in prices (as hoped for), envelopes initially planned by the Commission are maintained and allocated to planters and sugar beet growers so that the latter can benefit from as sufficient compensation as possible. The Commission is being asked to carry out a detailed impact study as soon as possible, analysing the socio-repercussions of the proposed measures, for both sugar beet producers and workers in the sector.
International commitments: the external angle to the draft resolution calls on the Commission to take into account demands formulated by the ACP States and least developed countries (LDC) and that it thinks hard about how a formula for regulating the “Everything but Arms” initiative, which responds to two objectives: allow the EU to keep its management capacity for offers and to avoid “linking the level of Community production to the adjustment variable” to the new CMO. MEPs are suggesting that this formula takes the form import quotas.