No C 310/14 Official Journal of the European Communities 30. 11. 81 
Opinion on the 'prospects for agriculture in French Guiana and the French Antilles within the 
framework of the EEC 
A. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE OPINION 
Pursuant to the third paragraph of Article 20 of its Rules of Procedure, the Committee delivered 
a supplementary opinion on the above matter, following on its opinion of 20 November 1980 
on the 'proposal for a Council Directive on the development of agriculture in the French 
overseas departments.' 
B. OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
The Economic and Social Committee prepared its supplementary opinion on the above matter 
at its 190th plenary session, held in Brussels on 23 and 24 September 1981. 
The full text of the opinion is as follows: 
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, 
Having regard to the third paragraph of Article 20 of the 
Rules of Procedure, 
Having regard to its opinion of 20 November 1980 
concerning the proposal for a Council Directive on the 
development of agriculture in the French overseas 
departments (J), 
Having regard to the decision taken by its Bureau on 
30 June 1981, instructing the Section for Agriculture to 
prepare a supplementary opinion on prospects for 
agriculture in French Guiana and the French Antilles 
within the framework of the EEC, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Section for 
Agriculture issued on 16 July 1981, 
Having regard to the report presented by the 
Rapporteur, Mr De Grave, 
Having regard to the discussions at its 190th plenary 
session Held on 23 and 24 September 1981 (meeting of 
23 September 1981), 
HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING OPINION 
unanimously: 
1. The distinctive features of the three French overseas 
departments (DOMs) dealt with in the opinion 
The three French overseas departments dealt with in this 
opinion - just like the other two (La Reunion and St 
Pierre et Miquelon) and other peripheral areas of the 
H OJ No C 348, 31. 12. 1980, p. 7. Community such as Greenland - all have distinctive 
climatic (and hence agricultural), demographic, 
economic and transport features. These features are 
frequently a handicap but they can also be of potential 
value to the whole of the Community provided the areas 
in question are not neglected. 
1.1. The economic and social situation in the DOMs 
The three overseas departments have a number of 
socio-economic features in common: 
— they have few mineral resources, except perhaps in 
Guiana where a survey of these resources is under 
way. This makes it even more essential to exploit 
other sources of wealth - agriculture, forestry, the 
sea, new forms of energy and, on a more general level, 
all sectors with a future; 
— they have narrow overall economic bases. This makes 
it even more difficult to industrialize the islands and 
gives small and medium-sized businesses a 
particularly important role in economic 
development. 
The three departments are relatively prosperous within 
an area of general underdevelopment. In 1977 the mean 
gross domestic product per capita came to 15 000 FF in 
the French Antilles, 5 000 FF in the rest of the Caribbean 
and 40 000 FF in metropolitan France. The pay and 
welfare systems are on a par with those to be found in the 
developed world: wages are quite close to the European 
level, social security benefits are being aligned on those 
obtaining in metropolitan France and transfer payments 
are also at a high level. 
Guiana, which is sparsely populated and has 95 % of its 
surface area covered by more or less virgin forests, has a 
30. 11. 81 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 310/15 
continental shelf teeming with prawns and fish. It also has 
a high level of transfer payments which are boosted by the 
activities of the National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) 
at the Kourou base and the first signs of agricultural 
development. There are no major industries in Guiana. 
The local economies have been scarred recently by 
devastating hurricanes in the Antilles. These have 
traumatized the population and led to the authorities, 
together with the Community, putting up large sums of 
money to repair the damage and restore production. 
Hurricanes David and Frederick between 28 August and 
3 September 1979. Hurricane Allen on 3 and 4 August 
1980 in the Antilles. 
The DOMs' economies are marked by: 
— a very high level of unemployment; 
— GDPs and jobs based preponderantly on the service 
sector; 
— an insufficient diversification of industries, which 
puts their economies at the mercy of a sudden switch 
in economic fortunes in one or two sectors; 
— trade balances heavily in the red. 
One of the salient characteristics of the DOMs' economies 
is the fact that the market sectors (building and public 
works, trade, services) receive their stimulus from the 
non-market sectors (especially the public sector). The 
State has a decisive role to play in the non-market sector 
through the economic impact of the decisions it is called 
upon to take (expenditure on wages, transfers, 
investments, price policy, etc.). 
In the field of agriculture - the traditional economic base 
of the DOMs' economies - ceilings have been put on 
exports of sugar, rum and bananas. Development plans 
have had teething troubles in the Antilles whilst in Guiana 
agricultural and forestry development has only just 
started to get off the ground. The fact that agriculture 
accounts for 9 • 1 % of GDP but employs 21 % to 22 % of 
the labour force shows that income from agriculture is 
much too low in an area where the general level is already 
very low. 
Industrial activities, on which the authorities had based 
their hopes of creating jobs, have absorbed only a limited 
amount of unemployment and modernization schemes in 
the main food industries, particularly sugar and rum, 
have even led to lay-offs. 
The development of tourism in the Antilles has meant a 
higher occupancy rate of existing hotels but only a limited 
amount of new construction. 1.2. The major problem - unemployment 
The lack of local jobs and activities in the DOMs has led 
to higher unemployment and large-scale migration. 
Thus, in spite of a threefold increase in industrial 
investments in the DOMs between 1975 and 1980, only 
500 to 1 000 new jobs were created each year, a figure 
which has to be set against the 3 500 jobs axed annually in 
agriculture and the 3 500 young entrants to the labour 
market each year. Unemployment in the Antilles is 
between 20% and 25 %. 
However much agriculture, industries, crafts and tourism 
are expected to develop, there will still not be enough jobs 
to satisfy needs. Hence the large-scale migration of young 
people to metropolitan France is likely to continue. 
This migration is bound to exacerbate the employment 
situation in metropolitan France and make it impossible 
for the migrants to return to their native countries, 
etc. 
2. Proposals for the economic development of the 
DOMs, especially in the agricultural sector 
The Committee thinks that every effort must be made to 
speed up the development of the DOMs and to provide 
their populations with stable employment. 
To achieve this, greater encouragement will have to be 
given to the productive sector. The Commission, acting in 
liaison with national and local authorities within the 
framework of the Treaties and secondary legislation, will 
therefore have to keep a particularly watchful eye on the 
pursuit of these objectives, especially in the fields of 
regional, agricultural, social and commercial policy. 
The Committee is aware that the three departments' 
major problems, i.e. their high levels of unemployment 
and their backwardness, cannot be resolved simply by-
developing agriculture. 
Industrial production and craft trades will also have to be 
boosted to counterbalance the service sector's inflated size 
(which is particularly evident in the civil service and the 
import trade). 
Even though the departments should become 
self-sufficient in certain produce (livestock farming and 
food crops) as soon as possible, there is also a need to 
create or develop economic activities upstream and 
downstream of crop production, stock-breeding, fishing, 
fish farming or forestry. To quote but one example, 
No C 310/16 Official Journal of the European Communities 30. 11. 81 
tropical fruit juces are imported from Venezuela because 
there are no local manufacturers at the moment. 
The Committee calls in particular for the pursuit of the 
following objectives: 
2.1. Speedier financing of the infrastructure investments 
required for the development of production 
The aformentioned Community financial plan (funded by 
the EAGGF, Guidance Section) should help the DOMs to 
mitigate their natural handicaps and diversify 
production. 
Greater consideration should, however, be given to the 
complementarity of the three departments' development 
potential. Hence the need to interbalance and coordinate 
the departments' development plans. In order that the 
region's needs might be better met, steps should be taken 
towards an 'integrated' policy of the type already planned 
for other regions of the Community (Lozere, South East 
Belgium, Western Isles of Scotland). Such a policy was 
proposed by the Committee in its opinion of 24 October 
1979 (»). 
An overall package of aid should be the ultimate goal. 
Individual measures have had the advantage of taking 
into consideration specific situations in remote corners of 
the Community, but it is regrettable that these measures 
have been confined to minor details of economic 
development (farm machinery pools, food production 
investments, industrial plant). It would possibly be wiser 
to adopt a more global approach in the form of an 
integrated economic development programme which 
would mobilize the full range of Community funds for the 
development of the departments over a number of years. 
It is vital, after all, for businessmen to be aware of a 
development policy's long-term content. 
The development of stock-farming and wood production 
in French Guiana, for example, will require the building 
of a modern abattoir of sufficient capacity which 
complies with the appropriate standards and the 
construction of forest tracts and roads for heavy 
traffic. 2.2. Adapting the Community market regulations to the 
special features of DOM products and periods of 
production 
As a whole, the correcting of the approach adopted in the 
seventies (complete integration with allowance being 
made for regional characteristics) is agreed with and 
frequently applauded locally. However, the Community 
must not overlook the very special pros and cons of these 
less-developed regions. 
The market organizations must be better tailored to the 
distinctive features of the DOMs. 
The first aim should be to support food production so 
that the departments become self-sufficient. 
Whereas 90 % of Guadeloupe's exports are agricultural 
produce, 72 % of all its imports are articles of food worth 
more than all its exports put together (FF 482 089 million 
in 1979). Why, it may well be asked, is a country with 
such an agricultural bias so dependent on other countries 
for its food supplies? 
The export-import ratio in money terms dropped from 
27 % to 19 % between 1975 and 1979. 
The second objective should be to encourage certain 
exports to neighbouring, countries and to the 
Community. Products already grown in Europe should 
not be the only ones to be given a chance at the expense of 
products which may be of little statistical significance to 
the Ten but which are important for the overseas 
departments' economies. 
2.3. Improvement of outlets for DOM produce in 
Member States and respect for the principle of 
Community preference 
If a small effort were made to give more publicity to DOM 
quality products such as aubergines, tropical fruit, limes 
and processed goods (fruit juices), these products would 
most certainly go down well with consumers. More often 
than not metropolitan France is the sole Community 
outlet for these products, which ought to establish a 
market for themselves throughout the Community by 
taking advantage of Community preference. 
2.4. Development of forestry policy 
The Economic and Social Committee has repeatedly (2) 
underlined the deplorable consequences of not having a 
(>) OJNoC.53,3. 3. 1980, p. 22. (2) OJ No C 114, 7. 5. 1981 (opinion of 12. 7. 1978), and OJ 
No C 227, 10. 9. 1979 (opinion of 11. 5. 1979;. 
30. 11. 81 Official Journal of the 
proper common forestry policy applicable to the whole of 
the Community. The Commission has itself stated that 
'efforts to improve the structural aspects of the common 
agricultural policy should be accompanied by initiatives 
in the forestry sector'. (Communication from the 
Commission to the Council of 5 December 1980 entitled 
'Reflections of the Common Agricultural Policy, 
p. 25.) 
Production in the EEC is growing at the rate of 1 % per 
annum whereas the annual rate of growth of 
consumption is 2%. Furthermore, annual production 
totals some 80 million m3, while annual consumption is 
around the 200 million m3 mark. 
In twenty years' time, imports are expected to supply 
more than 80 % of needs. This is going to expose the 
Community to serious risks because of likely shortages 
and other difficulties worldwide. 
Wood and forestry products rank second, after oil, in the 
Community's trade balance deficit. The forestry sector 
and allied activities are also very labour-intensive. 
If wise use were to be made of French Guiana's forests 
through finding out more about the types of wood 
growing there, the region, the Member State concerned 
and the whole of the Community could benefit 
enormously. 
2.5. Vocational training policy 
A major effort will have to be made in the field of 
vocational training because of the decline in traditional 
activities, the high rate of unemployment and the need to 
develop new activities. 
The Community will therefore have to step up its efforts 
in this direction. 
2.6. Integration of the DOMs in the Community's 
research policy 
The DOMs, with their forests in French Guiana, their 
space centre at Kourou, their new forms of energy (solar, 
biological), their fish-farming and their marine resources, 
seem to be able to help meet the major challenges of the 
new international economic situation in which raw 
materials and new technologies are in heavy demand. 
This will be to the benefit of the whole of Europe. 
Done at Brussels, 23 September 1981. uropean Communities No C 310/17 
Special emphasis will have to be placed on agronomic 
research into DOM products and on the contribution 
which this region of the EEC can make towards the 
development of the neighbouring countries. 
Contacts between the DOMs and the other countries of 
the Caribbean seem to be reduced to the bare minimum, 
even though it is possible to applaud the symposium held 
in Pointe a Pitre on this subject (February 1981). A joint 
and formally-based approach could be adopted to 
problem areas and research work - split up according to 
precisely defined topics - with tropical agronomic 
research figuring high up on the list of topics covered. 
2.7. Improvement of information 
The populations of the DOMs must be provided with 
more ample information about Community aid available 
(areas of intervention, level of aid, procedures, 
conditions) and about the projects which have already 
benefitted from financial assistance. 
2.8. Aid for regional development and the reduction of 
unemployment 
More often than not the establishment of industrial 
enterprises is made difficult by the fact that the local 
market is so small and a part of production has to be for 
export. Investing in industry is therefore fraught with 
more problems than, say, investing in a commercial 
enterprise engaged in the import trade. 
Community funds (ERDF, EAGGF, Social Fund, 
Vocational Training, etc.) should be used to aid 
job-creating investments, reduce unemployment and 
enhance Hying standards in these regions. 
3. Conclusion 
The Committee would like to point out in conclusion that 
the Community must keep a constant watch on the 
repercussions which its domestic policy decisions -
especially those taken in the field of agriculture - and its 
external commitments have on the requisite development 
of these outlying regions of the EEC, bearing in mind 
their distinctive features, their remoteness and their 
location. 
The Chairman 
of the 
Economic and Social Committee 
Tomas ROSEINGRAVE