Mr President, the fact that Parliament views this report with great seriousness can be gauged from the two major hearings which have been held during the past year: one by ECOSOC and one by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. It is understandable why Members are concerned. In the EU at the present time we have a 35 million tonne annual shortfall in plant proteins. This situation has been exacerbated by the continuing MBM (meat and bone meal) ban which has created a further 2 million tonne hole in our protein supply. EU self-sufficiency in plant proteins has fallen to 23%, placing the Community in a position of great vulnerability. We now have an enormous reliance on imported proteins from outside the EU. Most of it comes from America, Argentina and Brazil in the form of soya cake. Much of it is genetically modified. Clearly such heavy reliance on sources outside our control makes the EU vulnerable to sudden price rises, climate change or harvest failures in these countries, almost placing our livestock sector in the same position as our heavy industry once was at the time of the oil crisis. There is a further alarming factor which will inevitably add to our problems. Currently the accession states are more than 80% self-sufficient in plant proteins. While this is a considerable improvement on the situation in the 15 Member States, it remains the case that the accession states, for the most part, export their oil seed because their crushing mills are obsolete, meaning that they still have to import soya cake in large quantities for their livestock sector. However, the Commission is forecasting a fall in plant protein production in these countries once they become full Members of the EU and a switch to cereals. This would be disastrous. We have a ready-made market for oil seeds and protein crops from which the accession states could benefit greatly. On the other hand, an increase in cereal production would simply add to the overall surplus and lead to the introduction of higher set-aside rates. We must implement a plan which would encourage the production of rape seed, pulses, sunflower and soya and provide major economic benefits, not only to the accession states, but to ourselves, through greater self-sufficiency. In the existing Member States and the accession states, we also anticipate a continuing rise in meat consumption which will in turn lead to a demand from livestock producers for ever greater quantities of protein feed. So it is against this background that I have set out in my report to look for ways of encouraging more self-reliance within the EU. Amongst many recommendations, I have suggested various ways of encouraging an increase in plant protein production by investing more in research into and development of new and improved plant varieties. I have also called for rotational aid payments to farmers to encourage the production of plant proteins in the cereal crop cycle and for the growing of protein crops, grain legumes and oil seeds on set-aside land. I have called for a safety net or income insurance scheme for producers of oil seed and protein crops. I am alarmed at the continuing ban on fish meal in ruminant feeds by the Commission. I see this as quite unjustified by science and simply adding to our overall protein shortfall. I urge Commissioner Byrne to think again on this issue and to lift the ban, which is affecting a significant number of jobs in the fish processing and livestock feed sector. I believe there is great potential in developing the non-food sector. The production of oil-bearing plants for biofuels such as methylester and for biolubricants and biodegradable solvents is important in the concept of this debate because oil cake is produced as a valuable by-product. The Commission has shown a great deal of interest in this sector. It merits closer examination. However, developments in this area are mainly determined by the tax situation for biofuels. We have a long way to go before we can expect agreement on an EU-wide harmonised system of taxation which would encourage greater biofuel production. Finally, I fear that the mid-term review of the CAP since the Agriculture Committee dealt with my report may have significantly altered the thrust of some of these recommendations. I would be interested in hearing how Commissioner Byrne and Commissioner Fischler think the mid-term review will affect this position.

Political group: PPE-DE