Mr President, I very much regret that the Commissioner is unable to be with us. It seems to me that it might be wise to adjust our arrangements so that the Commissioner himself could read the text to be adopted. He ought to see the agreements reached in the common resolution through. We would then transcend mere words. I am sure we all agree that the terrible scourge of hunger in the world casts shame on all those who are in a position to prevent it. The figures speak for themselves. We are all aware of the alarming statistics. Nonetheless, I believe they bear repetition. I would venture to say that we are numbered amongst the lucky few who live comfortably, in an affluent society. Meanwhile, 900 people die of hunger every hour. In addition, 800 million people are malnourished and 300 of these are children. What is worse, the numbers remain stubbornly high and we are light years away from reaching the target of halving the number of malnourished people by the year 2015. That was the date set at the 1996 World Food Summit and confirmed in the Millennium Declaration. It is not a particularly ambitious target. Nonetheless, we are unlikely to reach it despite the fact that a number of countries have made determined efforts to reduce poverty and improve food safety. The current state of affairs as portrayed by these statistics proves beyond all doubt that the time for words and for grand declarations is long since past, particularly if account is also taken of the implications of malnutrition and their negative impact on development in the countries concerned. Hunger cannot wait. The time has come to take a quantum leap as regards the strategy needed to rid ourselves of this scourge. We need to go to the very root of the problem if we are to deal with the structural causes of world hunger. Tackling the root of the problem and going beyond the current crisis means making human development a priority. A two-pronged approach is called for. In the short and medium term it is necessary to focus on food safety and food sovereignty, crucial to alleviating present-day hunger. In the longer term, sustainable growth for less-developed countries must be promoted. The purpose of such a two-pronged approach would be to help establish the social, political and economic framework needed to allow those countries to eliminate poverty and start down the road to development. The causes of hunger and underdevelopment are many and varied. Consequently, a wide range of remedies must be deployed in the effort to reach these twin targets. All the factors contributing to hunger need to be dealt with. Natural disasters, droughts, floods and desertification are but some of these factors. Others include armed conflicts, civil unrest, political, social and economic upheavals, the AIDS pandemic and the foreign debt incurred by the poorest countries. Two main courses of action can be identified. On the one hand, regarding food sovereignty, it is essential to promote small-scale farming of sustainable and diversified crops. This is provided for in the common resolution we trust will be approved in plenary. Urgent action must also be taken to ensure the development of viable networks for local distribution, access to land and to water and the cancellation of foreign debt. Turning to the reduction of poverty and with development in mind, priority should be given to education. I mean education for all, girls included. Girls tend to be excluded from educational programmes as a matter of course, and are thus also excluded from all potential development of their countries. Increased technological capacity should also be fostered as part of this drive towards education and training. By technological capacity I am referring in particular to productive capacity. Efforts to combat diseases linked to poverty, notably AIDS, must be stepped up. What I actually have in mind are all the measures designed to promote good governance and the rule of law. As indicated in our resolution, I also believe it is particularly important to facilitate access to the markets on equal terms, and on a reciprocal basis. Measures that distort trade should gradually be done away with. More specifically, as is also stated in the resolution and in line with the agreements reached at Doha, I believe agricultural subsidies should be eliminated. I am not referring merely to the European Union. After all, the Union’s market is the most accessible to the less developed countries. Rather, I am thinking of the whole international community, especially the richer industrialised countries. If we are to set the less developed countries on course for sustainable development to eliminate hunger we cannot shy away from these measures. They are essential and have to be taken. Peace itself is at stake, at both a social and international level.

Political group: PPE-DE