7. 5. 79 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 114/27 
2. The Committee endorses the fact that it will be 
possible to relax the conditions governing the testing of 
seed for the presence of cuscuta spp., since this weed is 
found in only certain regions of the Community. 
3. The Committee endorses the fact that the standards 
applicable to the seed of certain varieties of rye for use 
chiefly as fodder can be relaxed temporarily, since the 
difficulties which some regions of the Community have 
in obtaining supplies of rye seed will thus be able to be 
overcome. The Committee would point out, however, 
that this rule should be confined to certain varieties of 
rye and should be temporary. 
4. The permitted continuation of private field 
inspections under certain circumstances is approved by 
the Committee, though it wonders whether the deadline 
set is not too short. 
5. The Committee approves the proposed admission of 
certain mixtures of seed of different varieties of cereal 
under certain circumstances. The Committee would 
point out, however, that only suitable mixtures may be admitted and that the mixtures must be labelled 
accordingly. 
6. The proposed amendment to the Directive on the 
common catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant 
species relating to the inclusion of new varieties in the 
common catalogue meets with the Committee's 
approval. The amendment will improve the functioning 
of the system of the common catalogue. The Committee 
wonders, however, whether the deadline set in respect 
of Beta vulgaris L. and Solatium tuberosum L. is not 
too short. If it is not, it should be examined whether the 
system envisaged for Beta vulgaris L. and Solatium 
tuberosum L. should not be introduced for other 
agricultural plant species too. 
7. The Committee approves the amendment of the 
legal provisions concerning the admission of varieties 
and would point out that Member States will thereby be 
obliged to disclose more information. 
8. The Committee agrees to the introduction of a 
general extension period. This caters for the needs of 
the seed trade. 
Done at Brussels, 12 July 1978. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Basil de FERRANTI 
Opinion on the various Commission proposals on the development of the Mediterranean 
regions of the Community and their agricultural problem" 
The texts referred to the Committee have been published in Official journal of the European 
Communities No C 50 of 28 February 1978, page 53 and OJ No C 117 of 20 May 1978, 
page 2. 
A. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE OPINION 
On 12 December 1977 and 16 May 1978 the Council referred the abovementioned proposal 
to the Economic and Social Committee in accordance with Article 47 of the Treaty 
establishing the European Economic Community. 
B. OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
The Economic and Social Committee prepared its opinion on the above matter at its 161st 
plenary session held in Brussels on 12 and 13 July 1978. 
The full text of the opinion is as follows: 
No C 114/28 Official Journal of the European Communities 7- 5. 79 
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 47 
thereof, 
Having regard to the request made by the Council of 
the European Communities on 12 December 1977 for 
an opinion, 
Having regard to the request made by the Council of 
the European Communities on 16 May 1978 for an 
opinion on a proposal for a Council Regulation on a 
common measure for forestry in certain dry 
Mediterranean zones of the Community, 
Having regard to its chairman's decision instructing the 
Section for Agriculture to draw up an opinion and a 
report on the matter, 
Having regard to the previous work of the" Committee 
on the matter, in particular the study of 18 November 
1975 on current prospects for the agricultural products 
of the EEC's Mediterranean area, 
Having regard to the report submitted by the 
rapporteur, Mr Gavel, 
Having regard to the opinion adopted by the Section for 
Agriculture at its meeting on 6 July 1978, 
Having regard to the discussions at its 161st plenary 
session on 12 and 13 July 1978 (meeting of 12 July), Financial consequences of the proposal for measures 
to assist Mediterranean agriculture (Doc. COM (77) 
674 final); 
Proposal for a Council Regulation on a common 
measure for forestry in certain dry Mediterranean 
zones of the Community (Doc. COM (77) 169 
final). 
1.2. The five papers are concerned solely with the 
Community's policy on its own Mediterranean regions 
though there are a few brief references to the 
implications of Spanish, Portuguese and Greek 
membership. 
Such a piecemeal approach is deplorable, for the 
Mediterranean policy must be comprehensive and 
coherent. 
It is also deplorable that no comprehensive analysis of 
the economic and social situation of the Community's 
Mediterranean areas has been made in support of the 
policy the Commission is proposing. The Committee 
has, at any rate, not been informed of any such analysis. 
It is a pity that at the present stage in the development 
of its Mediterranean agricultural policy the Commission 
has not yet spelt out its intentions, so that the problems 
connected with enlargement have to be left out of 
account in this opinion. This means that the present 
opinion is necessarily incomplete. 
HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING OPINION 
by a large majority, with four votes against and two 
abstentions: 
I. Introduction 
1.1. The Economic and Social Committee has based its 
work on five Commission papers issued in 1977 and 
early 1978: 
— Commission communication to the Council on 
Mediterranean agricultural problems (Doc. COM 
(77) 140 final); 
— Letter and working paper from the Commission to 
the Council dated 4 October 1977; 
— Commission communication to the Council on 
guidelines concerning the development of the 
Mediterranean regions of the Community, together 
with certain measures relating to agriculture (Vols. I 
and II) (Doc. COM (77) 526 final); Both the Council of Ministers (November 1975 and 
July 1976) and the European Council (April 1978) have 
recognized and affirmed the need to restore balance to 
the CAP through a re-appraisal of the agricultural 
problems facing the Mediterranean regions of the 
Community. The Committee feels that in the absence of 
concerted measures to revitalize Mediterranean 
agriculture, enlargement of the Community might 
widen existing imbalances between Mediterranean and 
temperate-zone agriculture. 
1.3. The Commission papers bring out the regional 
imbalances in the Community and in particular the fact 
that the Mediterranean regions are located towards the 
bottom of the economic scale. 
The Commission accepts that elimination of disparities 
will require a much more vigorous Community regional 
policy. The policy pursued to date has failed to narrow 
the gaps. Indeed, they have widened. 
1.4. In the absence of an adequate regional policy, 
economic growth has exacerbated disparities. The 
developed regions have prospered but the poor, 
7. 5. 79 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 114/29 
structurally weak regions have benefited only 
marginally. To give these poor regions a future and to 
enable the Community's Mediterranean regions to catch 
up economically and socially, we must strike at the root 
cause of their relative underdevelopment. 
1.5. The sheer scale of underemployment in the 
Mediterranean regions must be emphasized. 
Unemployment is steadily rising and surplus labour is 
finding it more and more difficult to find jobs in the 
more affluent countries and regions of the Community. 
Outlets in other industries in the Mediterranean areas 
have similarly contracted or remained static, 
perpetuating the underemployment in the region's 
agriculture — particularly among young people. All 
recommendations must consequently be evaluated with 
job maintenance and creation as one of the primary 
considerations. 
1.6. The Commission has produced an overall 
assessment which, as it says itself, calls for coordinated 
measures in the sectors listed below (Doc. COM (77) 
526 final, pages 6 and 6a): 
— water control; 
— improvement of profitability, encouragement of 
investment and creation or maintenance of 
industrial employment in the small/medium 
business sector; 
— development of tourist potential, particularly in 
rural areas; 
— investment aids for independent skilled craftsmen; 
— reform of market policies for the staple agricultural 
products of the Mediterranean region; 
— improvement of the agricultural production, 
processing and marketing structures of the 
Mediterranean region. 
1.7. For the moment, the Commission is not making 
any concrete proposals in regard to the non-agricultural 
sector. This is a crucial limitation. However valuable 
the proposed agricultural reforms may be in themselves, 
the fact remains that the Commission is confining itself 
to a single aspect of the programme which needs to be 
implemented and is thus jeopardizing the effectiveness 
of its action. The Commission has, however, 
undertaken to recommend non-agricultural measures. 
Pending these, the Committee obviously cannot make a 
comprehensive assessment. 
1.8. The Commission has been working on 
Mediterranean policy and the Mediterranean region since 1975. The Council resolution of 12 and 13 July 
1976 asked the Commission to review the situation and 
submit proposals as soon as possible. The Committee 
cannot understand why it has taken 18 months to work 
out a blueprint which is confined to the agricultural 
sector and consequently inadequate. 
1.9. The Committee considers that the Community 
should promptly implement comprehensive programmes 
to enable the various economic sectors of the 
Mediterranean region to catch up. 
1.10. Action designed merely to offset the effects of the 
underlying disparities would also be inadequate. It must 
concentrate on causes rather than symptoms, so as to 
give the Mediterranean areas the chance of balanced 
development in line with the rest of the Community. 
1.11. Given the nature of the problem, the 
Mediterranean Member States must back up 
Community action which may otherwise be completely 
inadequate. 
The Mediterranean Member States must therefore put 
through specific national and regional schemes designed 
to supplement and reinforce the corrective Community 
action. 
1.12. Finally, a degree of priority should be given to 
measures which, not only further modernization and 
restructuring, to the benefit of farmers, but also 
improve the supply of farm products to the benefit of 
consumers. 
II. Comments on the guidelines concerning the 
development of the Mediterranean regions of the 
Community, together with certain measures relating to 
agriculture 
2.1. The Committee endorses the Commission's 
statement about the importance of agriculture in the 
Community's Mediterranean regions. Agricultural 
development must be geared to stemming rural 
depopulation and securing for the farming community 
social conditions and a standard of living comparable 
with those enjoyed by the rest of the population. 
Furthermore, agriculture can, through its ancillary 
activities, help to improve general economic conditions, 
thereby helping to produce a more balanced 
employment pattern which particularly benefits the 
underemployed members of the agricultural workforce. 
No C-114/30 Official Journal of the European Communities 7. 5. 79 
2.2. Almost one third of the Community's farmers and 
farmworkers live in the Mediterranean regions. This is a 
major argument for a common policy designed to secure 
them the same opportunities as their counterparts 
elsewhere in the Community. 
2.3. The Committee endorses the Commission's 
general thinking about the improvement of production, 
processing and marketing structures. It is however 
deplorable that the specific reasons for Mediterranean 
agriculture's failure to benefit from socio-structural 
measures have not been analyzed for the purpose of 
proposing appropriate changes to be put into effect 
through specific programmes mobilizing Community, 
national, regional and local resources. 
2.4. As regards prices and market policy, the 
Committee feels that the same principles should be 
accepted for Mediterranean products as were applied 
when setting up the market organizations for products 
from the Northern regions of the EEC. The Community 
should face up to the full practical implications which 
this acceptance has for its commitments to greater 
security of income for the farmers concerned. 
2.5. This approach must also square with the interests 
of Community consumers and taxpayers. Consequently, 
market organization measures and price guarantees 
must be designed to satisfy domestic and even external 
consumer demand as regards both quantity and quality. 
2.6. Community production targets would be of 
considerable assistance to this policy (1). They should 
take account of possible export opportunities opened up 
by a vigorous job-creation policy in the Mediterranean 
regions. Mediterranean agriculture would be hamstrung 
if all its products were confined to catering for a certain 
share of the Community's needs. 
2.7. The Committee deplores the failure of the 
Commission documents to give any statistics or 
forecasts on the 'production — consumption' patterns 
of Mediterranean products in the Nine and in an 
enlarged Community. This makes it difficult to give a 
considered opinion on shifts towards alternative crops 
of which there is a deficit. The Committee would 
therefore like copies of any relevant Commission 
(!) OJ No C 61, 10. 3. 1977, p. 1. documents. In particular, such information would make 
it possible to evaluate what impact an increase in the 
output of the Mediterranean areas would have on other 
Community regions. 
2.8. Any constraints imposed on Mediterranean 
agriculture by agreements with non-member countries 
— and in particular with the LDCs — are designed to 
secure medium-term benefits for the Community as a 
whole. Consequently the short-term disadvantages must 
not be foisted on any single socio-economic category, let 
alone the disadvantaged farmers of the Mediterranean 
regions. The Community as a whole must foot the bill 
for decisions to bring about development parity within 
and outside its borders. It is desirable to narrow the gap 
between member and non-member countries but the 
elimination of imbalances between Community regions 
is even more urgent. 
III. General observations on the proposals concerning 
common market organizations 
3.1. The Committee deplores the Commission's 
decision to confine its proposals to three products: 
— olive oil, 
— fruit and vegetables, 
— wine. 
Only one of these is peculiar to the Mediterranean. 
3.2. It has done so despite the reference (page 2 of 
Doc. COM (77) 140 final) to the inadequacy of the 
market organizations for dessert grapes and citrus 
fruits. 
3.3. It is a pity that the Commission, in drafting its 
programme for helping the Community's 
Mediterranean regions, did not undertake an exhaustive 
review of their agricultural production with a view to 
proposing improvements. Statistics would be useful on 
this aspect. 
3.4. It would also have been desirable to examine in 
the specific Mediterranean context the market 
organization for sheepmeat, which is the only type of 
meat produced in any quantity in the area, and crops 
such as cut flowers, perfume plants, rice, tobacco or 
durum wheat which are also major sources of 
Mediterranean farm incomes. 
7. 5. 79 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 114/31 
IV. Observations on the proposal for a Council 
Regulation on a common measure for forestry in certain 
dry Mediterranean zones of the Community 
Doc. COM (78) 169 final) 
4.1. The Committee welcomes the reference to joint 
action to encourage afforestation in the Community's 
low rainfall regions (in Doc. COM (77) 526 final of 
8 December 1977 — Volume I — on the guidelines and 
in Doc. COM (77) 674 final of 9 December 1977, 
culminating in the proposals contained in draft 
Regulation COM (78) 169 final). 
4.2. Pending submission of the proposals in question, 
the Committee reiterates the significance it attaches to 
an effective forestry policy in the Community. The 
Committee endorses the broad lines of action proposed 
in respect of the forestry sector. It particularly welcomes 
the arrangements for 
— fire control, 
— construction of service roadways to enable 
exploitation of unproductive forests, 
— development of forest industries, 
— afforestation of land bare of vegetation to prevent 
erosion, 
— planning of back-up research and training 
programmes. 
4.3. The Commission had stated that it would 
subsequently draft proposals to coordinate the relevant 
Community instruments: 
— ERDF, 
— EAGGF, 
— Social Fund, 
— Studies and research budget. 
The Committee regrets that the proposed Regulation is 
based solely on EAGGF funding. In the absence of any 
concrete provisions it does not see how the other Funds 
can coordinate their action on the lines envisaged in the 
proposal. 
4.4. However, the Committee broadly approves the 
proposal. But it believes that it will only be effective 
in so far as regional or national measures are adopted to secure favourable conditions for financing and for the 
regrouping of the private interests concerned. 
V. Observations on proposed amendments to 
Regulation No 136/66 (olive oil) 
5.1. Olives are a typical Mediterranean crop. They 
provide an income for 1-2 million producers and in 
some areas there are no alternatives. Given the 
competition on the oils and fats market, this makes it 
necessary to grant deficiency payments for 
Community-produced olive oil and oilseeds. 
5.2. Paragraph 3 of the proposed new Article 2 states 
that compensatory amounts may be charged under 
certain circumstances. This proposal is, however, 
emasculated by the final clause which stipulates that the 
introduction of compensatory amounts must respect the 
international commitments of the Member States. 
5.3. The Committee disagrees with what, the 
Commission says on other points of the proposal. 
— The producers' groups, which are to be recognized 
pursuant to another Regulation, have been assigned 
a key role in implementing the proposed Regulation. 
But they will be unable to fulfil this role. 
— It is necessary to cut olive-oil costs, in the interests 
of growers and the Community budget. A 
programme for restructuring the olive-growing 
sector is therefore needed. 
In furtherance of a comprehensive policy on fats and 
oils, the Committee consequently proposes the 
following changes to Regulation No 136: 
(a) recognition of producers' groups and, above all, 
allotment to them of tasks pertaining not only to the 
monitoring of olive production and milling but also 
to technological improvement and the reduction of 
production costs, such as by joint ownership of 
olive-harvesting machinery and equipment for pest 
and plant-disease control; 
(b) definition of principles for establishment of a buffer 
stock to be managed with the help of producers' 
groups. This buffer stock would be used to 
re-establish market equilibrium; 
(c) Community-financed advertising campaigns, 
organized with the help of producers and consumers 
to promote consumption of olive oil; 
No C 114/32 Official Journal of the European Communities 7. 5. 79 
(d) amendment of the table appended to Regulation 
136 (classification of the various types of olive oil) 
in order to upgrade virgin olive oil; 
(e) submission by the Commission concurrently with 
the prices and amendments to Regulation 136 of a 
plan for restructuring olive growing; 
(f) encouragement of dessert olive production by a 
Community aid and adherence to the principle of 
aid and preference for Community-grown olives. 
VI. Observations on the proposal for a Council 
Regulation amending Regulation No 2517/69 
(reorganization of fruit production) 
6.1. The Committee endorses the draft Regulation, 
which again allows Member States to grant national 
aids for the replanting of apple, pear and peach 
orchards. 
The new Regulation should make it possible for 
growers to produce the fruit varieties that consumers 
want. To this end aids should be granted only if 
replanting leads to an improvement in quality. 
6.2. A package of specific EEC aid for the 
Mediterranean areas ought also to include priority 
under Directive No 159/72/EEC for such replantings of 
orchards under variety improvement schemes in 
response to changes in consumer demand. 
6.3. Consideration should be given to the introduction, 
in all Member States, of a grant to growers who grub 
up apple, pear or peach orchards and undertake not to 
replant. 
VII. Observations on the proposal for a Council 
Regulation amending Regulation EEC No 1035/76 
(fresh fruit and vegetables) 
7.1. Fresh fruit and vegetables are grown throughout 
the Community. The Commission proposals thus have a 
general application. For this reason, the Committee has 
concentrated on those measures which are likely to 
improve the market organizations for fruit and 
vegetables in the Community's Mediterranean regions. 
7.2. The Committee endorses the proposed Article 1, 
which requires members of a producers' organization to provide that organization with information on harvests 
and supplies. This is essential to a good knowledge and 
management of the market. 
7.3. As a token of the support which the Community 
intends to give to its Mediterranean regions, newly 
established organizations of fruit and vegetable 
producers in those regions should receive the maximum 
rate of 'take-off aid provided for in the proposed 
Article 2. 
7.4. The Committee endorses the proposed Article 3, 
allowing producers' organizations to withhold from the 
market products which meet quality standards if their 
sale would be contrary to marketing rules designed to 
control the volume of supply. In such cases, the 
marketing organization concerned would pay producers 
an indemnity based on the withdrawal price. This 
proposal is to be welcomed. It enhances the ability of 
producers' organizations to pursue a genuine marketing 
policy. 
7.5. The proposed Article 4 allows producers' 
organizations to withdraw apples and pears from the 
market at the beginning of the season if, for a specified 
period, prices hover between the buying-in price and 
80 % of the basic price. This provision seems 
dangerous. It will not allow pre-emptive withdrawals 
designed to ensure that the producers' market gets off to 
a good start in the new season; instead, it will be 
implemented when the market is already depressed, and 
will have little impact. The result will be substantial 
intervention buying of withdrawn produce. This will 
cost the Community a lot of money. We recommend, 
therefore, that the proposed Article be amended to 
allow pre-emptive withdrawal from the market when 
harvest forecasts indicate that there is going to be a glut. 
7.6. The Committee is concerned that producers' 
efforts to organize themselves better on the domestic 
market should not be jeopardized by uncontrolled flows 
of supplies from outside. 
The Committee feels there might be a case for applying 
to fruit and vegetables the target and threshold prices 
system which has proved its worth in other areas. 
VIII. Proposal for a Council Regulation amending 
Regulation (EEC) No 516/77 of 14 March 1977 
(processed fruit and vegetables) 
8.1. In some respects, the proposals for processed fruit 
and vegetables do not really square with the declared 
7. 5. 79 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 114/33 
desire to develop the agricultural and food sectors in the 
Community's Mediterranean regions. The preserving 
trade is a major outlet for farmers in those 
Mediterranean regions which are receiving aid for 
irrigation and development of their processing and 
distribution infrastructure (the Mezzogiorno and the 
Languedoc-Roussillon regions). But this outlet is 
contingent on the provision of proper Community 
protection for products such as tomato concentrate, the 
world supply of which is expanding. 
8.2. The Committee considers that the proposed 
amendments could improve the situation with respect to 
processed fruit and vegetables. They should, however, 
be reviewed with a view to the possibility of: 
— the processing aids for a number of typical 
Mediterranean fruits and vegetables being 
administered by the processors and producers' 
organizations involved, subject to their having 
signed contracts; 
— a rule that Community produce must have priority 
on EEC markets; 
— a rule that imports must supplement Community 
production, not replace it. 
Community preference should be re-established by a 
properly applied minimum entry price for imports, 
import certificates with limited validity a step-up in 
frontier checks on quality and an effective safeguard 
clause. 
In addition, a Community export policy should be 
framed. 
8.3. The proposed aid system is to operate for five 
years only. This ignores the fact that it takes four to 
eight years before an apricot, prune or peach orchard 
reaches optimum production. Therefore, any 
fruit-growers who might be tempted to switch to 
preserving varieties (and the Community is only 40 % 
self-sufficient in preserved apricots, prunes and peaches) 
will not in fact do so, because they will realize that by 
the time their first crop appears the subsidy will be 
finished. Processors will draw the same conclusion and 
not make any investment, however much aid is offered. 
8.4. The proposed Article 2 states that the Council 
may limit the production aid to a specific amount, in 
the light of average production over the previous three 
years. A decision to impose such a limitation, in a 
production sector where the Community is not 
self-sufficient and where demand is growing, would 
amount to a voluntary curb on output to the benefit of 
imports from non-member countries. Adoption of such a limitation would be tantamount to applying 
Community preference in reverse. 
8.5. The Committee therefore recommends that the 
proposed aid scheme should be introduced without the 
budgetary and time limits, and that it should operate 
until such time as, in the light of its results, the 
Community decides new measures to ensure really 
effective protection and expansion of the sector. 
8.6. It seems necessary to base the aid system on 
contracts, in order to guarantee producers' incomes and 
ensure processors' supplies. But it would be advisable to 
specify that, at least in the case of perennial crops, the 
contracts are to be signed by producers' associations. 
This will bolster their influence and make for a sounder 
administration of the market by facilitating monitoring. 
8.7. The aid should be large enough to offset the 
disparities between Community and non-Community 
produce. The price paid to the producer for the raw 
material is only 25 % of the price of the final product. 
If the aid only covers this quarter, imports from 
non-member countries will flood the market and put 
Community preservers and the Mediterranean fruit 
growers who supply them, out of business. 
8.8. The Committee considers that cherries, apricots 
and pears should be added to the products covered. 
8.9. The Committee would finally draw attention to 
the effects the aids scheme would have if it were applied 
to the prospective new Mediterranean member 
countries. 
IX. Observations on the proposals concerning peas and 
field beans 
9.1. The Commission's proposals on support for pea 
and field-bean production figure only in Volume I of the 
guidelines concerning development of the 
Mediterranean regions of the Community (Doc. 
COM(77) 526 final of 8 December 1977). No draft 
legislation has been proposed in Volume II. 
The basic feature of the support is to be an aid to feed 
manufacturers which will offset the price advantage of 
soya. 
9.2. The Committee welcomes any steps taken by the 
Community to increase its self-sufficiency in feed 
protein. The aid must be large enough to secure growers 
a good financial return. It should preferably be paid on 
the basis of contracts between producers' associations 
and feed manufacturers. 
No C 114/34 Official Journal of the European Communities 7. 5. 79 
X. Wine sector proposals 
10.1. The Committee points out that wine production 
in the Community is subject to rules and regulations 
governing: 
— planting and growing, 
— definition of products, 
— monitoring of trade, 
— marketing, 
— presentation and labelling. 
However, wine production has not benefited from the 
same CAP price and income guarantees as other major 
agricultural products. 
In particular, there is no permanent machinery for 
supporting market prices at an adequate level. 
This lack of guarantees is all the more regrettable in 
view of the fact that vines are harvested for many years 
on end in areas where the soil and climate make it 
difficult and costly to switch over to other crops. 
Difficulties in the wine sector can cause a deterioration 
in the economic situation in the regions concerned. 
The Committee also notes that the total lack of 
alignment in the field of taxes and duties (which are still 
the exclusive responsibility of the Member States and 
are extremely high in some wine-drinking countries) 
impedes trade in wine and artificially reduces the 
consumption and sale of table wines in particular. 
The Committtee therefore thinks that if the market is to 
be made more evenly balanced in the short term, 
concrete action must be taken on two fronts: 
1. On the production side: 
(a) measures to remove the imbalance between 
supply and demand must be encouraged; 
(b) there must be a system of permanent and 
automatic intervention, which caters for 
consumer needs and provides a price level for 
table wines of recognized quality that is 
sufficiently high to ensure that the producers 
enjoy a degree of protection comparable to that 
of producers of other major Community 
agricultural products; 2. On the consumption side, indirect taxes and duties 
must be reduced and aligned throughout the EEC. 
10.2. The costs of paying winegrowers guaranteed 
incomes will be less if production is geared more to the 
market. 
At the moment, the average annual surplus is less than 
3 % of production. 
10.3. An initial move to stabilize production capacity 
was the enactment of Regulation EEC No 1162/76, 
which banned the planting of new vines in the two years 
ending 30 November 1978. 
The first step which should now be taken is to introduce 
a permanent regime for the planting of vines, to 
supersede the transitional rules now in force. 
But it will doubtless be necessary to take further steps, 
such as defining wine-growing areas, framing an overall 
structures policy and planning crop changes. The draft 
Directives adopted to date by the Council in the field of 
structural policy should thus form a coherent whole 
with the measures to be adopted later on. 
The structural measures should fit in with a Community 
regime for the planting of vines, itself based on the 
delimitation of winegrowing areas, the overall objective 
being to stabilize production, to improve quality by 
growing varieties better suited to local soils, to reduce 
costs by modernizing production and to close down 
vineyards in areas ill-suited to them. 
10.4. The accession of new winegrowing countries 
must not be allowed to jeopardize the progress made by 
the Nine with regard to market organization and the 
stabilization and regulation of production. 
Prior to joining the Community, the countries in 
question should therefore give assurances with regard to 
the organization of their production, the control of 
surpluses and quality standards. These assurances will 
be designed to prevent a deterioration of the situation in 
the EEC, where the surplus is limited. The Committee 
thinks that full membership should not be possible until 
it has been made certain that the principles of the Nine's 
common policy on wine will not be jeopardized. 
The Committee would also stress the major — though 
varying — economic and social differences between the 
Community and the three applicant countries. This has 
a considerable impact on costs. 
7. 5. 79 Official Journal of the European Communities NoC 114/35 
XI. General comments on the structural policy 
proposals 
The Commission's proposals to assist structural 
improvements in agriculture in the Community 
Mediterranean areas have been prompted by the fact 
that: 
— production, processing and marketing structures in 
the Mediterranean are backward; 
— structural measures taken undet the 1972 Directives 
have failed to improve the situation in the 
Mediterranean. 
The effectiveness of the structural Directives in the 
context of the Mediterranean regions is doubtful. As 
suggested above, the Commission should go further and 
consider what changes need to be made in applying the 
Directives to specific projects in the Mediterranean. 
Some of the provisions, which work for farming in 
Northern Europe, in a developed economic setting, are 
clearly unsuitable elsewhere. 
At any rate the Commission is no doubt right in saying 
that the structural Directives will not bring about the 
requisite structural changes. Hence the proposed 
specific programmes which we will go through one by 
one. It is a pity, however, that the Commission has not 
attached a general statement explaining its choice of 
programmes. 
XII. Comments on the programme for speeding up 
irrigation in the Mezzogiorno 
The Committee agrees that there should be a 
comprehensive programme for developing technological 
and social infrastructures in Southern Italy. 
But the Committee is worried whether the right kind of 
crops will be grown in the irrigated areas. It is 
imperative to ensure that the new crops are those 
actually needed by the Community and that they do not 
disrupt markets now in balance. Dealing with 
programmes to reorganize production in the 
Mediterranean, the working paper of 4 October 1977 
states that: 
'Such actions should be based on thorough research 
on production economy and market potentials. 
National and Community aid will be needed to 
induce reorientation and to ensure incomes during 
transfer stages.' The Committee hopes that this advice will be heeded. 
This is crucial to the success of the programme, from 
the points of view of both the farmers concerned and 
the Community. 
The Committee also recommends that to enhance its 
effectiveness the farm advisory service be administered 
by agricultural organizations. 
XIII. Comments on the programme to speed up 
modernization of wine-growing and conversion to other 
crops in the Languedoc-Roussillon region 
Modernization of wine-growing 
The Committee approves the draft programme for 
modernizing wine-growing and boosting quality and 
profitability. Common programmes to standardize 
methods and promote better medium-yield varieties are 
the correct approach. The programme will carry on the 
existing scheme which is being implemented with 
Community support. 
Converting vineyards to other uses 
There is already a premium scheme in operation for 
grubbing up vines and undertaking not to replant for 
six years, thus reducing production for that period. 
The Committee thinks the existing premium scheme 
should be continued. Further premiums could be 
granted to growers who, before the six years are up, 
agree to cease wine production altogether on the land 
concerned. This would give wine-growers a chance to 
try out other crops, before finally deciding to give up 
wine production. 
The Committee has repeatedly called for the 
introduction of a premium scheme for final grubbing up 
of vines, with the proviso that the premium should be 
large enough to lead to a significant reduction in wine 
acreage. It feels that the proposed premium will not 
allow this objective to be achieved. 
The Committee's recommendations in regard to the 
Mezzogiorno scheme also apply to ways of influencing 
the choice of crops to be grown on irrigated land 
converted from wine-growing. In addition, account 
should be taken in the choice of replacement crops, of 
the social situation, particularly employment. The new 
No C 114/36 Official Journal of the European Communities 7. 5. 79 
crops should therefore be highly labour-intensive so as 
to maintain, or indeed boost the number of agricultural 
jobs provided. But such crops will only be attractive and 
become established as alternatives to wine-growing if 
the Community applies itself to properly organizing 
their markets and securing them market outlets. 
XIV. Comments on the scheme for infrastructure 
improvements in specified rural areas 
Schemes such as these to improve the setting within 
which farming operates are clearly of great value for 
agriculture in the backward areas of the Community's 
Mediterranean regions. Telephone services should also 
be eligible. 
The clause providing for investor contributions as low 
as 10 % is very significant because there are poor areas 
in which beneficiaries may not be able to afford more. 
The size of the beneficiaries' own contribution can very 
often be as crucial as the size of the budget itself. 
The Commission proposes to allocate 125 million units 
of account to the scheme. 
The Committtee suggests that after the first two years a 
review should be undertaken to see how effective the 
scheme is, with reference to 
— applications granted, 
— applications pending, 
— types of projects and beneficiaries using the scheme, 
— completed projects. 
XV. Comments on the amendment of Regulation 
(EEC) No 355/77 on aid for investment in processing 
and marketing with regard to southern Italy and 
Languedoc-Roussillon 
Processing and marketing facilities are crucial to the 
success of the Mezzogiorno and Languedoc-Roussillon 
structural schemes. Such facilities will convert into cash 
the region's traditional crops and the new crops to be 
grown on irrigated land. 
They will also create much-needed jobs in the areas. 
It is proposed to reduce the beneficiary's contribution to 
25 %. This boosts the incentive value of the scheme considerably. As with the last-mentioned scheme, a 
review should be undertaken after the first two years. 
XVI. Comments on the scheme to assist the setting up 
of a farm advisory service in Italy 
The Commission is proposing a scheme to assist in the 
establishment of a farm advisory service in Italy but has 
not yet submitted a formal proposal. 
Agricultural advisory services are clearly a major factor 
in the development of agriculture. 
An advisory service must provide farmers with 
continuous information and advice, as the Commission 
says, but it should also help them to use the information 
and advice to maximum advantage for their own 
particular situation. 
Advisory officers therefore need to be in close touch 
with farmers, abreast of technical and management 
matters and the latest research, and conversant with the 
plans of the economic organizations. Advisory services 
should therefore be run by the agricultural 
organizations. 
XVfl. Conclusions 
The Committee welcomes this first package of measures 
aimed at overall assistance for the Community's 
Mediterranean regions. But it notes that these measures 
are not sufficient to correct the imbalances in these 
regions, and reassure the farmers there as regards the 
implications of enlargement. 
The various Committee visits to Greece, Spain and 
Portugal have revealed: (a) the diversity and scale of the 
agricultural problems facing the applicant countries, 
and of those facing the Community in general and its 
Mediterranean regions in particular; and (b) the need 
for an overall approach to these problems. 
The Committee stresses the following points: 
— the need for sustained, in-depth measures — which 
may entail very gradual changes to secure 
improvements in the standard of living and 
7. 5. 79 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 114/37 
adjustments in the administrative set-up of the 
applicant countries; 
— the importance of agricultural restructuring and 
reconversion measures. Their success, and indeed 
their feasibility, is contingent on back-up measures 
being taken to promote general economic growth in 
the regions concerned. Such measures must make 
use of the various Community instruments: the 
European Regional Development Fund, the EIB, 
Social Fund and EAGGF; 
— as well as discipline and organization on the part of 
farmers, the common organization of the markets 
will require the setting up of appropriate national, 
regional and local links; 
— at the moment, the most appropriate action would 
be to compile a comprehensive list of all the 
problems facing the Mediterranean regions of the 
Done at Brussels, on 13 July 1978. Member States and applicant countries, and to 
determine and cost the possible remedies. In 
particular, there is an urgent need for a detailed 
study of the present and potential levels of output 
and consumption of the main products involved, 
especially olive oil, wine, citrus fruits and other fruit 
and vegetables. 
To sum up, the Committee is convinced that piecemeal 
measures would only shift the problems elsewhere. It 
believes that a major economic and social programme is 
required to restore the balance throughout the 
Community and make any future enlargement a success. 
Moreover, it is essential to set up arrangements for 
mutual information and consultation of the various 
interest groups concerned, beginning with agricultural 
circles. This will shed more light on conditions and 
problems in the* Community and the applicant 
countries, and help to establish a climate of confidence. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Basil de FERRANTI