SPEECH/08/19
Mariann Fischer Boel
Member of the European Commission responsible for Agriculture and Rural Development 2008: Year of the Health Check
Meeting with the Agricultural Committee of the German Bundestag Berlin, 17 January 2008
[Madam Chairwoman, Honourable Members],
May I start by wishing you all a very happy new year! And of course it's a great pleasure for me to address this Committee once again, looking ahead to the rest of 2008.
But before I do look ahead, let me glance back over 2007 for a few moments.
When I think about the amount and range of policy work that we did last year in the area of agriculture and rural development, I think we can safely say that we all earned our Christmas holidays!
In fact, the full list of what we achieved would be so long that now I will just focus on the most important items.
2007 was an important year for pushing ahead with individual sectoral reforms within the Common Agricultural Policy – to round off our work of bringing all sectors under the umbrella of the general CAP reforms which began in 2003.
As you know, in June, we agreed a reform package for the fruit and vegetable sector.
It's a credit to everyone involved that the related negotiations went so smoothly – especially in view of the very diverse interests within the sector.
With the reform deal in place, our fruit and vegetable producers will be on a much firmer footing to face the future, and to meet the expectations of the public – particularly in terms of the environment.
Needless to say, discussions about reforming the European wine sector went rather less smoothly! Passions were running very high indeed, not least in Germany.
In particular, of course I know that my proposals about chaptalisation were not well received here. All I would say on this point now is that it was never going to be easy to achieve a perfect reform recipe. Balancing up so many competing interests in a productive way was an almost impossible task.
Almost impossible – but not quite impossible. We did it. We do have a reform deal – one that everyone can live with, and that will make a positive difference for our wine sector in the years ahead.
So now, it's time to move on. Let's make sure that the opportunities offered by the reform are used to the full.
The other big event which came towards the end of last year was, of course, the launch of the CAP Health Check – which will take up a lot of my time in 2008.
I'm pleased to report that the Health Check is off to a good start. Responses so far in the Council and in the European Parliament have been very positive. There's a widespread recognition that the Health Check will be a very valuable exercise. I really want to keep up that momentum as further discussions get going this year!
This morning, I don't intend to go through the Health Check in detail in my initial remarks. But let me briefly raise one or two points which may be of particular interest.
With regard to the Single Payment Scheme: I know that there's some concern in Germany about a possible upper limit on the maximum level of direct payments that a given farmer can receive.
It's important to debate this issue, because the public raises it again and again.
However, if we did introduce some sort of upper limit, we might be able to take into account certain aspects of farm structure. Certainly, there is no intention to "punish" large farms simply for being large!
Also within the Single Payment Scheme, I know that German farmers and the German government are keen to see further work on improving the cross-compliance system.
This work will indeed continue. We will remain firm on the principle – this is essential – but I'm confident that we can make the system easier to work with.
With regard to market measures: the key idea here is to make sure that all our market tools fit in with a CAP that is intended to promote competitiveness.
As we look at this issue, we will of course keep in mind the strong rises in agricultural prices which prompted so much media coverage last year.
In particular, the coming abolition of the milk quota system is a cause for concern in some areas of Germany.
I must emphasise at this point that the debate about whether quotas will be abolished is over. The arguments in favour of abolition are strong, and have convinced a large number of Member States.
The question now is how to prepare for abolition, and how to help the dairy sector to make the most of the freedom which the end of quotas will bring.
It's a question that I take very seriously – especially in the case of more economically vulnerable areas which rely heavily on milk production.
With regard to the "new challenges" outlined in the Health Check communication: you know as well as I do that the public is becoming more and more concerned about things like climate change and energy use. The European Union as a whole is responding; agriculture must play its part.
A key challenge here is to have an informed discussion based on sound analysis. In the area of biofuels in particular, there is quite a forest of misunderstandings that we have to cut through. It's good that there's now a greater public awareness of this and other issues; let's help this awareness to develop into real understanding.
Honourable Members,
I'm really looking forward to taking forward the Health Check in 2008. Early January is typically a moment when people make new year's resolutions about getting physically fit. I'm confident that we can find the right fitness programme for the CAP as well!
I will need your help with this task, and I know I can rely on you.
Thank you for listening, and I'm ready to take your questions.
