Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to start by thanking most warmly both rapporteurs, Mr Fiori and Mrs Rodríguez Ramos, for the work they have done. Most of all, I would like to speak to Mrs Rodríguez Ramos' report. As shadow rapporteur for the group, let me express my heartfelt gratitude for the good cooperation with Mrs Rodríguez Ramos. Agenda 2000's mid-term review is a very important stage for agriculture, as the further development of the common agricultural policy is very important specifically in a global context. The right course must be set at the right time, so I welcome both these own-initiative reports to an extraordinary degree. I see the considerable attention paid by Mrs Rodríguez Ramos in her report to rural development, with all its demands, problems, opportunities and possibilities, in a favourable light. Its continued promotion within the second pillar of the CAP really is an important matter of concern to me, although such promotion must not be to the detriment of the CAP's first pillar. It is also important to emphasise the multi-functional agriculture by which jobs can be created, and which also has many other beneficial effects on rural areas as a whole, on their environment, the economy and the maintenance of the cultivated landscape. I would also like to point out that the promotion of all farming concerns, above all those belonging to young farmers, in all Europe's regions, is a matter of great concern to me as rural structures depend on the concerns' existence and on the latter's willingness to protect them. Agriculture is to be strengthened and steered towards sustainable development in many parts of Europe, although its competitiveness must not, of course, be disregarded. I urge that care be taken to maintain guarantees of food safety. Consumer confidence and the quality of agricultural products are important principles in the agriculture of today. What is important to me is that this mid-term review should not be taken as an opportunity to generally call into question the existing rules of the CAP. For me, a ‘mid-term review’ means reviewing Agenda 2000 and the current rules. Necessary adjustments must of course be made in response to the results of this review, but Agenda 2000 has to be transposed, and its long-term implications have to be reviewed. Moreover, the problems of enlargement must under no circumstances be mixed up with the discussion we are having today on Agenda 2000 and the mid-term review. The European agricultural model must be secured for the future as well. If compulsory modulation of compensatory payments is to be advocated, it must also be ensured that the Member States cofinance it. I would like to sum up by saying, by way of emphasis, that the promotion of rural development must – as already said – under no circumstances be to the detriment of the CAP's first pillar, but additional funds need to be made available for it to be extended. We Members of Europe's Parliament therefore look forward with great excitement to the Commission's proposals, in response to the mid-term review, for positive development of agriculture, forestry and rural areas, and thus for the future of farmers in Europe.

Political group: PPE-DE