Strasbourg, 20/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - Adopting a report on 16 February by Friedrich-Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf (Greens/EFA, Germany), the bal called for the establishment of ambitious risk and crisis management measures in the agricultural sector, giving a muted welcome to the European Commission's report on the same issue (see EUROPE 8957). The EP did not amend the report adopted by the EP's Rural Development Committee (see EUROPE 9129).
A motion for a European Parliament resolution notes that the European Parliament 'is emphatically against surrendering Community preference; considers that there is an urgent need for a more detailed examination of the instruments and measures used by the Union and its Member States for preventing risks and dealing with crises; refers above all, in this connection, to possibilities for managing supply in order to prevent overproduction and collapses in prices, and the new rural development programmes; considers that in particularly vulnerable areas, such as fruit and vegetable production, measures under common market organisations (COMs) continue to be justified and considers it necessary to maintain them in the forthcoming revision of the COM in fruit and vegetables.'
The EP calls on the European Commission to introduce safety net provisions in the event of a crisis no only in the COM in beef, but also for other sectors, such as fruit and vegetables, wine, pork and poultry. The EP also asks the Commission to assess the impact of the emerging problem of scarce oil supplies and possible scenarios for dealing with it, including the option of granting aid for the purchase of fuel in times of exceptional oil price rises. The EP believes at the same time that the production of energy crops should be made more attractive to producers through a substantial increase in aid granted per area of production. The EP also calls on the Commission to 'set up a public insurance system funded by the EU for individual production areas and production methods, with a view to creating a better policy framework for risk management and crisis prevention.'