Brussels, 13/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - In a joint resolution of the EPP-ED, PES, ADLE and GUE/NGL groups adopted this week by a large majority, the European Parliament expressed its solidarity with Spanish farmers and the whole of the Iberian peninsula following the recent widespread severe drought and frosts. The EP calls on the Commission to release funds from the EU Solidarity Fund with a view to alleviating the damage caused to the productive capacity of whole regions of Spain. The EP urges the Commission to improve the eligibility criteria for aid under the Common Agricultural Policy by means of the following: greater flexibility in the set-aside regime; authorisation of grazing on set-aside land; exemption from the obligation to achieve flowering in order to receive EU aid for herbaceous crops; exemption from the general obligation regarding grain legume use in order to receive aid and the possibility of direct use of the arable land concerned for grazing; greater mobilisation of intervention cereals in order to meet livestock's feeding needs; and brining CAP aid forward to September. The EP also wants more flexible rules for the common organisation of the markets for fruit and vegetables.
The EP welcomed the Commission's Communication on risk and crisis management in farming, calling for the announced pilot project foreseen in the 2005 budget procedure to be speedily launched to establish a model of EU insurance or a compensation mechanism for natural disasters to ensure guaranteed minimum income levels for farmers. The MEPs want the Commission to study the option of establishing a European Drought Monitoring Centre.