Mr President, Commissioner Fischler, ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to be able to present to you today the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development’s own-initiative report on the situation and perspectives of young farmers in the European Union. Twenty years ago, I, myself, was a member of my local young farmers' organisation in the county of Somerset in England. Even in those days it was not easy for young farmers to carry on the family farm or get started in the industry. Today the situation has become even more difficult, and we are witnessing a big drop in the number of young farmers coming into the industry. We have reached a point where it has become vital to take action in order to stop this decline. Not only for the sake of agriculture itself, but also to safeguard existing structures in our countryside. The last thing that we want to see is a depopulated countryside where the green and pleasant landscape which we take for granted will not be looked after properly any longer. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the European organisation CEJA for its help and cooperation in enabling me to produce this report. I was given the opportunity to visit young farmers in five Member States which gave me a better and wider understanding of the practical ways in which young farmers could be helped in the industry. I would further like to thank Commissioner Fischler for his backing and I would also welcome the draft opinion on the report produced by the Committee of the Regions because it is going to do a report on young farmers. Last but not least, I would like to express my thanks to Ross Gordon Consultants who produced an excellent study on the situation of young farmers in the European Union last year and whose publication has been of great help in producing today's report. The report puts forward a series of ideas and ways of assisting young farmers starting up or carrying on in their businesses. I have, however, tried not to reinvent the wheel. Basically I would like to see the introduction of a guaranteed standard level of assistance for young farmers throughout the European Union. I am fully aware that it is not an easy task to come up with one solution covering all the different conditions facing young farmers in their respective countries in a Community of 15 Member States. To name just two examples: land values can vary from EUR 12 000 per hectare to EUR 15 000 per hectare. Levels of taxation vary greatly with some Member States imposing considerable inheritance tax which renders the survival of young farmers very difficult, especially where land values are very high. I do not have the time to go through all the recommendations made in the report, but I will list some of the measures which should be given priority: the continuation of start-up grants of up to EUR 40 000, in combination with subsidised interest rates for start-up capital of up to EUR 120 000 for eight years. Two of the major difficulties encountered by young farmers are the raising of start-up capital and subsequently the danger of overstretching their financial abilities by providing regular interest payments. We are living in a computer age. Access to education and training needs to be further encouraged in order to allow young farmers to take full advantage of the potential advantages offered by modern communication technology and business operation techniques. The changing face of agriculture, increasingly determined by global WTO agreements, means that agriculture will continue to change. It is in our best interests that young farmers are well prepared to anticipate and to manage these future challenges. Food safety measures and production methods are being thoroughly analysed these days. There is greater emphasis on organic production throughout Europe. Here again, young farmers must be placed in a position which will allow them to embrace a new upcoming culture and to be aware of the benefits attached to maintaining consumer confidence and support for agricultural products. There is tremendous scope for innovative and creative local high-quality production. The European agricultural industry is going through a difficult economic period with a great deal of restructuring going on at the same time. There is a great need to assist some of the older farmers to retire in dignity. In this context, I would very much like see a retirement package for existing farmers linked to bringing in young farmers to carry on the industry. I would like to ask Commissioner Fischler to recommend to Member States that they introduce such a policy throughout the EU. We are seeing the average age of the farming Community increase with falling numbers of young farmers. This trend must be reversed. Young farmers need greater access to production rights. It is not easy to balance the delivery of additional production rights to young farmers if they have to be taken away from existing farmers who themselves are already facing financial difficulties. When, in future, production rights are changed, I would like to ask the Commission to take into greater account the need to increase the amount of extra production which is given to young farmers. With the emphasis in the CAP on giving increasing importance to rural development schemes, it is crucial to recognise the young farmers as the key players and main executives responsible for the implementation of such new rural redevelopment policies. With the forthcoming enlargement of the European Union, I would strongly advise the applicant Member States to start creating supportive measures for their young farmers already at present, especially in view of the introduction of production controls required by the Commission. In many parts of the world, share farming is a common practice. I would like to ask the Commission to investigate the possibilities for developing share farming within the common agricultural policy. As I have already mentioned, this report is an own initiative report of the Committee on Agriculture, and I hope all parties will be able to sign up for this report and make sure positive practical help is given young farmers in the future. I would also like to thank Commissioner Fischler once more for his support and also ask him to introduce an audit to be carried out every two years on the availability and success of measures put in place to support young farmers. It is very important that we do not just pay great lip service to helping young farmers, but actually deliver policies within the common agricultural policy that increase the number of young farmers coming into the industry. (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE