(To be checked against delivered speech)
Strasbourg, 23 June 2003
Ladies and gentlemen,
First of all, I should like to thank you for inviting me to speak to you today. When I say this, I am not simply being polite - but mean it as a genuine tribute to the valuable work which the Council of Europe has done on many political issues which, for that reason too, deserve detailed discussion. This is particularly true of the two reports which we are discussing today.
I should like to start by saying a few words about agriculture in the Mediterranean region.
Agriculture is both a key element in Euro-Mediterranean partnership and an important part of the Mediterranean countries' economies. As you rightly say in your report, Mr FERNANDEZ AGUILAR, agriculture in the Mediterranean region particularly needs more diversified production, better quality overall, and sound water management to ensure that this most vital of production resources is protected in the long term.
Concerning diversification, the EU has for several years been trying, with the help of association agreements, to prepare the ground for mutual liberalisation of trade in the agricultural sector, and we agreed in Barcelona to make the establishment of a free trade area our ultimate goal.
In the spirit of the Barcelona process, the whole agricultural market sector is gradually being liberalised - with the help of preferential customs tariffs for unlimited quantities, or customs quotas pegged sufficiently high to correspond at least to the traditional volume of trade between the treaty partners. The aim of mutual market access is to help create an area of stability and develop a fair, market-focused trade environment.
At the same time, we must not forget the socio-cultural and ecological aspects of trade. These should be borne in mind when the Community's MEDA programme is being planned. Already very effective today, these instruments should be improved even further in future.
With a view to diversifying production in the Mediterranean region and promoting the development of local and targeted production, new forums have been established between the partners as part of the institutional and legal framework for improved market management. For example, the Commission recently set up a sub-committee for agriculture with Morocco. We intend to do the same with all the countries in the region, which means that we shall eventually have tailor-made instruments to help us find quick and effective solutions to the problems of liberalising trade, diversifying production and developing new markets.
There is one question I particularly care about - product quality and foodstuff safety.
Mediterranean agriculture has two diametrically opposite facets. One is traditional subsistence farming, whose productivity is declining. The other is export-geared production, mainly of citrus and other fruits, early potatoes and vegetables, which benefit particularly from spending on irrigation projects.
Whatever the future holds, our partners in the Mediterranean region need to make further progress with land reform. The same applies to opening up of the land market, investment in water projects, pre- and post-production improvements, and customs and transport reforms.
As you can see, the future, too, holds numerous challenges, but our various aid programmes should help us to meet them. Ultimately, what we are all aiming at is a sustainable and just agricultural sector in our partner countries.
The second report before us today is concerned with enlargement.
I am pleased that it lays special emphasis on the need for rural development. It is precisely because rural development is so vitally important for the applicant countries that we brought in the SAPARD programme, even before enlargement, to provide better development opportunities in these countries' rural areas. With a view to the post-accession period, we included a tailor-made package for rural development in the new member countries in the accession negotiations. We have thus agreed on a number of specific new measures for rural development in these countries, e.g. subsidies for semi-subsistence farms or financial support for adjustment to EU standards. We also have a high co-funding rate.
Your report also emphasises that the Common Agricultural Policy must be simplified. I can only agree. Simplification should head our list of priorities, in both new and older member states. At the same time, I would like to point out that we have already taken up over 100 proposals on simplification in the last few years, and have done our best to implement them.
The fact that simplification of the CAP is one of my own top priorities is borne out by the reform proposals which I submitted in January.
Looking back on the last few years, we can actually see that we have already come quite some way towards modernising the CAP. People are increasingly coming to see that farming is not just a matter of producing foodstuffs. Farmers today are helping to protect diversity of fauna and flora, give us well-tended cultural landscapes, preserve important natural resources and bring life to rural communities. Farming is, in other words, a multifunctional activity which benefits the whole of society. This being so, it is only logical and reasonable that strengthening the ties between agriculture and environment should be one of the aims of the present reform proposals. This is also why I feel so strongly that farmers who receive direct subsidies should be required to keep their holdings in good condition, respect the environment and treat their land and animals properly.
This brings me on to a thorny issue, which your report also broaches. In the negotiations on accession, there was broad discussion as to whether future members should get direct subsidies in full from the outset, should get them after a transitional period, or should not get them at all. As you know, a compromise, providing for the gradual introduction of direct subsidies in the first three years after accession, was eventually reached. Of course, new members are to some extent allowed to top up EU payments from national sources. In my view, this solution sensibly marries the interests and wishes of both present and future members.
Ladies and gentlemen, both of your reports deal with issues which have a vital bearing on the EU's future. These issues will continue to demand our full attention.
Farmers and processors in the Mediterranean countries must find areas where their production complements EU production and must harmonise their standards - and we must provide them with technical and financial support. I am optimistic that a competitive, sustainable agricultural sector will develop in an EU enlarged to 25 members. Of course, the states concerned will have to make substantial structural adjustments, and will need the right rural development policies to do that.
Even when ten new members join, however, the enlargement process will be far from complete. Negotiations on accession with Bulgaria and Romania are continuing. At the end of 2004, the Commission will be reporting on the extent to which Turkey satisfies the political conditions for membership. You obviously know, too, that Croatia has already applied to join, and that the Summit in Thessaloniki at the weekend discussed enlargement to south-east Europe.
Thank you for your attention. After today's debate, I am sure that we shall have still further opportunities to pursue our dialogue on these important issues.