(28/10/05) Informele top: Europese Groenen hekelen valse discussie over Europees landbouwbeleid

• 2005-10-28

EU Greens criticise false conflict over CAP:

"Don't believe the fairy tale"

Overzichtspagina informele top

The Greens in the European Parliament have strongly criticised the French President Jacques Chirac and Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair for creating a fight over farm subsidies while moving instead towards a deal at the expense of the future of European farmers and the wider rural regions of the Union. German Green MEP Friedrich-Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf , vice-chair of Committee on Agriculture the in the European Parliament, said:

"Tony Blair has hit out at the CAP in order to defend his rebate. And Jacques Chirac it punching back at today's summit suggesting a new research fund financed by the British rebate. Both expect trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson to sell out EU farm subsidies in the WTO negotiations against EU access to markets in developing countries — and cheap farm imports from developing countries. This dishonest sham keeps Europe from becoming a leader on fair trade with developing countries. Europe must stop pushing farmers towards industrial practices and unfair competition. The EU must move into food production which is less energy consuming, socially just and promotes ecologically sustainable practices."

French Green MEP Marie-Helène Aubert , Member of the Committee on Agriculture, said:

"Mr Chirac claims to defend the interests of the farmers by defending the old CAP. But what he really has in mind are the interests of the export-oriented French agro-industry. Chirac clings onto the 2001 deal with Chancellor Schröder — agreed by Tony Blair — to continue a policy of subsidies until 2013. This leaves the money in the hands of big land owners and factory farms, and has prevented the long needed shift towards sustainable practices in farming and a fully integrated rural development policy."

"Change in this direction could already be underway had Blair and Chirac not opposed setting ceilings for farm subsidies and transfer the money from the well-off big farms to the rural development fund. The EU would no longer be under pressure in the WTO to cut subsidies and tariffs because it would strengthen rural infrastructure, training, research employment and sustainable modernisation of rural areas, instead of subsidising trade companies who dump surpluses onto the world market."

"The best contribution Europe can offer to the world's food security is to make sustainable use of its own resources, not abandon them. If we make ourselves and others dependent on long distance food supply, we are take unnecessary risks. We need to open our markets for developing countries, in order to help them to develop their own economies, we should not encourage social and ecological dumping practices there."