Mr President, Commissioner, olive oil is one of the healthiest foodstuffs produced. It is a product enjoying a growing market, precisely because consumers are increasingly mindful of their health. Surpluses are certainly not a problem for this sector. Indeed, the latter is currently driving forward progress in extensive regions located in the Mediterranean countries. It would be difficult to grow other crops on the land concerned. Consequently, all this is very much in line with the hoped-for economic dynamism identified as an objective at various summits of Heads of State or Government. Consequently, there is no valid reason to curtail the development of this sector. Nonetheless, the draft reform on the table before the Council of Ministers for Agriculture Ministers contains only a cursory reference to the condition of the sector. The scant attention paid to the difficulties mentioned by several countries merits particular criticism. My own home country, Spain, was one of those disregarded, despite being the greatest producer of olive oil in the European Union and indeed in the world. In response to a number of questions in Parliament and even today, the European Commission has admitted that 23% of the olive trees in Spain would cease to receive Community aid. According to data provided by Commissioner Fischler, 66 million of the 288 million olive trees planted before May 1988 will not come into production within the reference period used to calculate decoupled aid, namely 2000-2002. The Commission feels that this deficit can be dealt with by drawing on the national reserve of rights to aid to be set up following the reform of the CAP agreed in September 2003. This reserve will be composed of 3% of the decoupled rights. It is worth stating, however, that the reserve will be used not only for this particular purpose but also to deal with other potential shortfalls in any one of the sectors reformed. I therefore suggest the cake in question is far too small for each of the many guests likely to turn up at the party to be able to enjoy a reasonable slice. The European Commission has also failed to take account of the inadequate quota allocated to Spain in 1998. Commissioner Fischler gave confirmation of this before the House today. In spite of the adjustment agreed in that year, a political agreement was reached. This was clearly enshrined in the recitals of the COM Regulation, providing for review of national quotas, once reliable data on the situation of the sector was available to the Member States. Such data is now available. It has been on the table for some time, thanks to studies conducted under the auspices of the Commission itself. The studies make it quite clear that the quota allocated to Spain falls far short of actual production. Producers should not lose out through reform of the olive oil sector. They have made a great effort to improve their marketing in recent years. Provision should also be made for olive groves located in marginal regions of the European Union. These groves play an important socio-economic and environmental role in such regions. The 1998 groves that have not come into production during the reference period should not be overlooked either. Reform of the sector should include an appropriate degree of flexibility to allow each of the producer countries to deal with its own specific situation. Further, along with the other Mediterranean sectors debated in the House today, the olive oil sector must enjoy the same preferential status accorded to all other reformed agricultural sectors. Producer countries should therefore be allowed to designate a transitional period before the new reforms come into force. All these suggestions are contained in the proposal tabled by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. This is a consensus proposal and it has enabled us all to move forward. I should like to thank Mr Daul, Mr Mayer, Mr Lavarra and Mr Berlato. There is no cause for concern, Amendment No 87 was adopted and should appear in the consolidated text. In addition, I would ask Mr Cercas to convey to ... (The President cut off the speaker)

Political group: PPE-DE