12th EFGP Council Meeting, Budapest

30 November - 2 December 2001

FRIDAY, 30TH NOVEMBER 2001

Opening - Welcome

Marian Coyne, EFGP Committee, opened the meeting at 17:35 and welcomed delegates. She thanked Zöld Demokraták for hosting the meeting. She also thanked Heidi Hautala, retiring Co-president of the Green/EFA Group in the European Parliament, for all the support she has given to the EFGP.

Marta Marczis, Co-chair of Zöld Demokraták, welcomed delegates to Budapest. She spoke of the forthcoming elections in Hungary, and of the hope of Green success. She wished delegates a productive and successful meeting and presented Marian Coyne and Pierre Jonckheer MEP with sunflowers.

Pierre Jonckheer MEP, Ecolo, welcomed the assembled delegates, and gave a special welcome to Thomas Sevigny, co-chair of the Green Party USA. Pierre spoke of the importance of the enlargement process, and the importance of supporting all Green parties in Europe in their forthcoming national elections.

Debate - What Agricultural Policy for an Enlarged EU?

Marian Coyne, EFGP committee, introduced the speakers for the debate.

Isabel Vertriest MP, Agalev, spoke of the importance of an inclusive debate on the future of agriculture. She stressed the importance of ecological agriculture, not just for the environment, but also for the benefit it can bring to people. She also stressed the importance of listening to consumers. Isabel spoke of a number of strategic plans that were important for agriculture in the context of enlargement. These include a European Food Agency, the control of agriculture-related environmental problems, encouraging well-balanced farms, the involvement of agriculture in rural development and a shift from price support to income support. This shift to income support must be closely linked to social issues, however, and organic production must get more support than conventional production. We should, Isabel argued, be prepared to pay more for agriculture that is kinder to the environment.
Isabel noted that enlargement would result in an increase in the production of agriculture. The solution to this, she argued, is to adapt the system of income support, related to the labour force.
In concluding, she argued that agricultural policy must be directed at supporting well-balanced farms, and not large agri-businesses.

Wolfgang Pirklhuber MP, Austria, stressed the importance of agricultural policy being widely discussed. He noted that Eurobarometer opinion polls had found the EU citizens were less and less confident about the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). A recent poll found that 90% of EU citizens want healthy and safe agricultural products, while only 37% think the CAP provides this. Meanwhile, only 29% of those questioned think that the CAP provides sufficient income for farmers. The important topics to discuss were, he said: the structure of farms in the EU and in applicant countries, WTO negotiations; Agriculture and EU budgets; and food quality conflicts, for example BSE and GMO. Wolfgang noted the large difference in farm size even within the EU, and that this was linked to productivity. Meanwhile, Hungary and Bulgaria are the only accession countries to have net export of agricultural products - all the others were net importers.
Wolfgang stressed the importance of WTO issues when discussing agriculture. The Uruguay round, for example, had set limits on domestic support for agriculture, while tariff rate quotas have also been introduced. Currently, free trade is very big, while fair trade is very small.
Wolfgang asked what Green politics can achieve as far as agriculture is concerned? We can try to "Green the CAP" he said. That means fair trade, not free trade; competition for quality, not dumping prices; regional production and consumption, not GMO. The importance of the mid-term review of Agenda 2000 should not be underestimated, he said - there is a chance for the orientation of agricultural production on the domestic market, to establish anti-dumping rules, and to force the promotion of organic agriculture.
What was feasible, Wolfgang argued, was cross-compliance, compulsory modulation in all countries, and that organic action plans be implemented in all countries. More difficult aims include GMO-free regions, higher minimum standards in farming practice, a new orientation for agricultural research, a focus on rural development, not blue box subsidies, and a higher food quality in the EU. In conclusion, it is clear that the EU position in WTO negotiations has been influenced by the Green position, he said. This is clear evidence that we can make a difference.

George Rasko, Hungary, said that the Blair House agreement had hit accession countries particularly hard. Export subsidies in the EU and USA had decimated agriculture in Hungary especially. The situation in Hungary was now so bad that agricultural policy was really crisis management. Nonetheless, agriculture remained a valuable asset in the country, he said. He also argued that Greens can have a big impact on the debate - in particular in greening the CAP. George praised the work of Renate Künast, German Minister for Agriculture and Consumer affairs, and agrees with her wholeheartedly in her approach to Green agriculture. George noted that in many applicant countries, and particularly in Hungary, there is big pressure from companies like Monsanto and Pioneer to promote GMOs, which the Greens are trying hard to resist.
He noted that rural unemployment is a big problem in Hungary. Meanwhile, the government is trying to reduce the employment in agriculture. This creates a big problem in many rural areas.
In concluding, George appealed to the assembled Greens to help to solve the crisis in Hungarian agriculture.

Suspension of debate - visit Joschka Fischer

At this point, the debate was suspended to allow Joschka Fischer, German Foreign Minister, to address the delegates.

Marta Marczis, Hungary, welcomed Joschka Fischer to Hungary and presented him with a sunflower.

Joschka Fischer spoke of the importance of the enlargement process, and the urgent need for democratisation in the new Union of 25 that is in the near future. He said that a unified and integrated Europe was even more important after the events of 11th September, because national states alone cannot solve the problems of the future. He also spoke of the importance of a European constitution - how will 25 member states work without one, he asked? Joschka also spoke of the need for new rules for the enlarged Union, without which the Union couldn't work effectively. The four pillars on which the European Union should stand, he argued, are the Commission, the European Parliament, the national Parliaments and the national Governments. In concluding, he looked forward with hope to the EU summit in Laeken in mid-December.

Marian Coyne, EFGP committee, thanked Joschka for his words and asked the assembled delegates for questions.

Yiannis Tsironis, Greece, wished Joschka well for his national elections in 2003, and asked him not to export his compromises.

Magdalena Gorneanu, Romania, asked Joschka whether he favoured Romanian entry to the EU.

Franz Floss, Austria, asked what the expectations of military intervention were.

Caroline Hoffmann, North Sea Greens co-ordinator, asked what could be done to improve the situation of women in Afghanistan.

Paolo Bergamaschi, Italy, asked if the role of the UN would be stronger in Afghanistan than it had been in other conflicts?

Jean Thierry, Denmark, questioned the idea of strong centralisation as a blueprint for Europe.

In reply to these questions, Joschka said that he wished the Greek Greens well in their elections. He said that he couldn't speculate about further military action in Iraq. He emphasised the importance of standing firm in solidarity with the USA, which had, after all, been attacked. He also emphasised that use of the military in Afghanistan was merely a last resort. He emphasised that the EU was based on the free will and common interests of its members. Without a strong European role in world affairs, he argued, there would simply be a strong role from somewhere else. Finally, on the Euro, he said that it was important because it enables us to choose our own economic destiny. The alternative to the Euro, he argued, was to be ruled by the dollar.

Marian Coyne, EFGP committee, thanked Joschka for his contribution and urged him to remain in dialogue with the Federation.

Resumption of debate - What Agricultural Policy for an Enlarged EU?

Marian then opened the floor for the resumption of the debate on agriculture.

Anders Anderson, Socialistisk Folkeparti (observers), Denmark, said there was a strong need to internalise the costs in agriculture, and also to take strong steps to stop the rise in rural unemployment.

Tommy Simpson, Ireland, said that in Ireland the effect of the CAP had been disastrous, with many small and family farms forced off the land.

Paolo Bergamaschi, Italy, asked how the WTO will affect the CAP, and how we can develop the Barcelona process.

Hans Günter Brauch, Free University of Berlin, stressed the importance of cutting the dependence of Central and Eastern European countries on cheap Russian fuel.

In answer to these questions, George Rasko said that Hungarian agriculture suffered because it was used as a political football - this had to end, he said. He also said bringing food safety issues to greater importance would lead to a brand new agricultural policy.

Wolfgang Pirklhuber spoke of the need for balance in the food chain. He also said it was important to introduce a tax on pesticides and fertilisers in order to limit the growth in their use. A definition of Industrial Agriculture was vital to enlighten the debate, he said.

Isabel Vertriest said one of Sicco Mansholt's original aims was to reduce the number of farmers in the EU. Now we need to stop losing farmers, she argued. She also spoke of the need for energy-balanced agriculture. At the moment, she argued, we are putting far more into agriculture than we get back. Finally, she mentioned energy efficiency in agriculture - something that is rarely thought about, but that is very important.

Marian Coyne, EFGP committee, thanked all the speakers for their contributions and concluded the debate at 20:05