Brussels, 12/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 12 April, the EP committee on agriculture called for withdrawal of the European Commission's controversial proposal to scrap the Community intervention system for the maize market from this year (EUROPE 9329). The report by Belá Glattfelder (EPP-ED, Hungary) was adopted in parliamentary committee by 24 votes to 10 and will be examined by the European Parliament during its plenary session at the end of May, in Strasbourg.
The rapporteur takes the view that the Commission is violating the legitimate trust of maize producers. This, he said, is not justified by the prospects of the sector and could entail “adverse effects” on the cereal market. The agriculture committee rejects the proposal, and calls on the Commission to withdraw it. Other amendments proposing gradual phasing out of public maize purchases until the point of 0 tonnes is reached in 2009/2010 plus a review of the situation by the end of 2008, were therefore withdrawn.
The EU intervention system for cereals (maize, wheat, barley and sorghum) consists of a single price of €101.31 per tonne paid to farmers who sell their crops into public storage if they cannot sell them on the market. According to the Commission, Community stocks were 5.6 million tonnes in 2005/2006 and could reach 15.6 million tonnes by 2013 (18.9 million tonnes for the total volume of cereal stocks). The rapporteur is convinced that the Commission's analysis does not reflect current market trends: - a currently high market price of around €120/tonne, a lower than average crop yield in 2006 and a fall in intervention stocks to 4.28 million tonnes at the end of 2006, together with the expected increase in world consumption and the growth in the biofuels market, which is set to be an important market for maize. (lc)