kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
yes commissioner it is true that intervention has been opened but i am disappointed to hear your negative view of reviewing intervention prices prices that were set years ago with no relation to current.
however the immediate crisis facing the dairy industry in northern ireland is one of continuously low farm gate prices.
farmers are constantly producing milk below the cost of production.
some voices claim that increasing intervention prices is the solution.
i have heard some suggestions recently that the commission is doing very little to support dairy farmers.
however i acknowledge that the variation in prices paid to farmers in different member states can be quite significant.
it is a critical element of the eu agricultural sector which is in itself a key driver of jobs and growth contributing significantly to the commission's jobs and growth agenda.
the possibility to intervene in exceptional circumstances as in the case of the russian import ban;
and as we move towards a market orientated policy which is the policy agreed by the legislators such a move would give the wrong signal.
these are available and these measures include the safety net tools including the public buying in of butter and skimmed milk powder as well as private storage aid schemes;
but as he has said this particular issue is not confined to that period of time.
this would do nothing but delay the inevitable a necessary adjustment and make it even more painful in the future in our view.
rural development policy which allows farmers to finance investments be better trained or receive compensation for being located in areas of natural constraint;
the milk package which is yet to be fully exploited and which can strengthen the integration of the producers in the supply chain;
what is more relevant is their impact on jointly negotiated volumes of milk deliveries.
by its rapid action the commission has provided economic actors with certainty and security.
the number of recognised producer organisations is growing.
it is one of the options that are certainly mentioned in mr nicholson's report.
in germany and the czech republic more than one third of deliveries are negotiated by these organisations.
let me also be very clear about proposals to increase intervention prices.
i welcome the fact that this is a full debate which reflects the importance of the european milk sector.
the possibility to implement risk management tools;
this is a sector with enormous potential.
there is a need to change our mindset.
i read the report with interest and i share most of the report's assessment of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead of the sector.
we have more money in the promotion policy budget to accompany dairy operators in their search for new customers and the identification of new markets is a personal priority for me.
but quotas and supply management are not the answer.
however we do need to make sure that farmers remain on the land in all parts of the eu.
they have the tools in the cap.
in pillar one they have coupled payments lfa payments and redistributive payments and they also have rural development programmes.
i think this is down to the member states.
in other words a tightly knit supply chain intense communication from start to finish and a willingness to adapt to consumer preferences labelling of country of origin and persuading retailers to commit.
despite these low prices agricultural lenders tell me that they have plenty of requests from clients to fund dairy expansion.
calls for a cost of production formula assume that there is a single magical figure.
current market pressures are affecting large farmers just as much as smaller colleagues but the rush to expand post quota is not always based on objective business planning.
and of course some producers concentrate on low cost milk but have to accept lower prices and some vice versa.
what is absent is a clear strategy for the industry to ride out the current market pressures.
in reality cost of land to rent or for mortgage repayment on loans for farm buildings and equipment proportion of unpaid family labour access to cheap by products for feed the impact of nitrate vulnerable zones and other regulations make a single cost of production figure quite impossible.
if we want to keep farmers on the land for purely social reasons then pillar two is more appropriate.
action is called for on symptoms without always a clear understanding of causes.
i look at that in my report and i know that the commissioner has an interest in that as well.
i would be concerned about the conflict between paragraphs twenty two and twenty four and i hope that the vote will clarify the situation.
we need to do more on the retail side within the european union. fresh milk is disregarded by retailers; it is sold at a low price and that needs to be looked at.
on the price side all i would say to the commission is do not do what happened the last time and intervene too late.
two thousand and nine commissioner hogan may finally be starting to grasp it.
they say that a week is a long time in politics but certainly i have to say that a year has been an extremely long time for dairy farmers over this last twelve months. since last year global supply has continued to outstrip global demand. we have seen the chinese pull back from the market;
all the indications point to a dairy sector in crisis.
my report calls for a realistic safety net that accurately reflects production costs and market prices.
in a recent interview on the bbc he said he hoped the second half of two thousand and fifteen would produce some evidence that we are coming out of this crisis.
we need to look at the possibilities of futures market and fixed term contracts as more predictability would allow producers more flexibility.
dairy farmers cannot wait until next year to see things turn.
i hope that this is a long overdue recognition of what dairy farmers have been saying for some time.
we also cannot ignore the longer term challenges in the dairy sector.
with the intervention rate so low prices have fallen below the cost of production and that is not unique to my area alone.
we need to look at imbalances in the supply chain between producer processor and retailer as well as ownbrand labelling and the use of liquid milk as a loss leader by large supermarkets.
diversifying export markets is crucially important to the countries like my own and we need to ensure that we diversify the markets and expand the markets that are already there.
so i hope he will address that tonight and admit that there is a crisis in the industry.
while these are major issues i believe the single greatest challenge facing the dairy sector is volatility.
the onus is on the commission to stand behind dairy farmers who continue to suffer the consequences of political decisions beyond their control.
in my own constituency processers are paying an average base price of twenty pence per litre with the average cost of production in northern ireland around.
two thousand and nine fact. the continuing fall in prices can no longer be dismissed as a blip.
i have repeatedly said that the commission has failed to recognise the scale of the problem despite assurances that were given in.
we have seen the russian embargo and we have seen prices continue to tumble.
the auction's.
well we now have a situation here whereby we are told let us say for example in mr nicholson's territory that it will cost you twenty six cents per litre to produce milk and all you will get is twenty cents in return.
you are going to have problems because they will not be able to pay back these loans.
i am sure you are all aware of the story about the emperor's new clothes and how it took a little boy to point out that actually the emperor was not wearing any clothes he was stark naked.
the food chain continues to be a source of concern and we are watching carefully what is happening in the united kingdom and spain in order to give us some experience and we look forward to the report of ms mcguinness later this year which will give us more information and explanation about what action we can take in order to improve the situation for the producer here.
there are direct support provisions which have not been mentioned too loudly here tonight but i am bringing to your attention the fact that a considerable amount of expenditure eur eight hundred and twenty million is cushioning farmers even though the price of the product is reducing.
i am very conscious of the russian ban and its impact on agricultural exports from dairy and i am looking into how we can actually assist producers and in taking account of some of the measures that have been made already how we can roll those over in the future.
i think that we need to look at ways in which we can assist in the establishment of better contractual relations between farmers and the industry and how some coops in fact in some member states are establishing a lock in price over a period of time at a very reasonable price.
market intervention thresholds always come up but as i mentioned in my contribution the product that goes into intervention has to be put on the market at some place in the future.
so we are as one in terms of acknowledging that there are challenges in that area at the moment.
there are structural problems i agree.
it is interesting at the moment that skimmed milk powder is not going into intervention and it would be interesting to analyse the reasons why.
there is hardly anything that is not mentioned and it is very balanced.
but i will not use my sixty seconds just for that.
the most important thing that we have to understand is that we are not just talking about the price of milk or counting who gets how much we are not counting milk drops.
this is something that we really have to pay attention to.
it is an era of great opportunity but it will not be without its problems.
our rapporteur is right that the best way to help the industry is to create an environment in which the industry is best able to help itself.
market volatility will remain a constant threat but by encouraging and empowering farmers to cooperate we can help them access opportunities.
by ensuring transparency in the food chain we can help farmers to get a fair return from the market.
finally we must be there to help the industry ride out the storm from the unpredictable and the unavoidable.
if we want to build a sustainable and competitive sector we must be there to support them in times of difficulty.
i want to commend mr nicholson for his work but i would have preferred parliament's report to have been more adventurous in issues that would address price volatility particularly around the issue of an intervention price. an intervention price is a strong tool to balance a volatile market but the intervention price has to reflect the cost of production.
otherwise by the time we reach it unfortunately for many small and medium farmers their livelihood is gone.
colleagues there is a structural problem in the european milk market and as long as our farmers remain price takers the sector will lurch from crisis to crisis. commissioner hogan i very much appreciated your robust defence of the range of tools available to the member states to intervene in their own markets and rebalance them in favour of primary producers and i was very much struck by your phrase that the milk package has yet to achieve its potential.
i absolutely do agree with you so perhaps a bit of impetus from the commission in naming and shaming those states that have not taken advantage of compulsory contracts local processing producer organisations local labelling school milk schemes would help us have some clarity domestically on the fact that the solution to our milk crisis is very often closer to home.
could i suggest that if you are looking to be naming and shaming then you start with the united kingdom because there are plenty of scottish farmers who are suffering as we do not have the tools to rebalance the market in scotland ourselves but london does.
i am totally in agreement with many of the things that were said.
i tried to address that and it is not an easy problem.
mariann fischer boel promised us in the agri committee when she was in your position that never ever again would dairy farmers have to wait so long for support.
do not leave it too late. commissioner i fear your honeymoon period is coming to an end.
i noticed in my local agricultural press at the weekend that my local minister said that you and your staff were living in ivory towers in brussels. i would not say that about you because i know you are a much cleverer
the critics should understand that there are problems in the existing system. a high representative with no direct responsibility to us in parliament duplication of functions between council and commission splits between eu special representative and commission heads of delegation human rights sometimes ignored for trade and geopolitical interests etc.
finally to mrs ferrero waldner i know she will be containing her excitement following the intervention of the uk independence party and she understands that british embassies are not up for sale.
mr president i want to support a strong external action service with geographic desks covering the whole world responsibility for the european security and defence policy and combining council and commission functions on planning conflict prevention and crisis management.
but i do want to agree with mrs malmstrm that this is not prejudiced by retaining responsibility for trade development and enlargement in the commission which is why i have collaborated with my colleague mr gualtieri on an amendment to paragraph six supporting bringing together eu development policy programming and implementation.
i am very proud of my colleague's work which is the result of cross party deliberations in this house.
it is a lever with which the ep can exercise its power.
we have to do our utmost so that the commission the council and twenty seven member states send their best people to work in the eeas.
as much as i really admire the rhetorical flair of our friends from ukip i find it quite interesting as someone coming from central europe that you are so ready to share your experience of living under the titoist regime in yugoslavia or under the soviet regime.
work in the service should be treated as an integral part of their career at home.
first of all let me congratulate elmar brok for preparing a report which so magnificently represents the mainstream and let me repeat that the mainstream of this house.
the lisbon treaty is important and different from all the other treaties because so much depends on its implementation.
we agree that the new service should be as close to the commission as possible because only the community method guarantees the coherence of our actions and most importantly the points of view of us all will be taken into account to the same degree.
the people working for the service have to be chosen on merit but also according to geographic balance so as to counteract the unfounded fears that the service could be hijacked by anyone.
that is why they have to enjoy the same status.
most importantly we have to do everything to ensure that the new service is of the best quality and that it is trusted by everyone.
to call these missions embassies would compound the fear that the eu is seeking all the trappings of a sovereign state.
it is therefore of concern to us that the lisbon treaty if it becomes law appears to set in train a series of developments that could end up undermining that prerogative.
we in the ecr group believe as an anti federalist body that foreign policy must ultimately remain the preserve of our individual member states.
the proposed european external action service must complement and not compete with or undermine member states' bilateral diplomatic activity and must draw its authority mainly from the council and not from the commission.
mr president as the union seeks a broader role in international affairs it arguably should have the tools to project our common values throughout the world providing of course there is unanimity in all twenty seven member states.
given that there is much talk about eu embassies in the brok report i would like the commission once again to repeat the assurances it gave me a year ago that eeas missions or delegations will not be called embassies.
there is one man's signature remaining i agree but i feel very confident that the treaty will enter into force very soon and that we should have the external action service in place.
this is because they think like we do like i do like most people here do that it is important for the european union to be able to act in a more coherent and stronger way if we want to promote our values and work towards peace and democracy all over the world.
the council might not agree with all the details in the brok report but i think it is a very valuable contribution to this discussion.
that means that he or she has to be responsible for the eas administrative budget but also for the appointing authorities.
mr president i found it interesting that some of the honourable members who speak so warmly of democracy cannot accept that the lisbon treaty has been democratically adopted by twenty six parliaments and one referendum.
what is important is that the high representative has the instruments to execute his or her tasks in the most efficient way.
this very much meets the wishes expressed in the report.
one of the tasks of the eeas will be to establish a training strategy to ensure that all members whatever their background will be equipped to carry out their tasks. heads of delegations in particular will have to be able not only to carry out their political role but also to handle all the commission activities that are such a substantial part of a delegation's mandate.
it must also be seen to be such both from inside and from outside the european union and the eeas will only be effective if it works well with other institutions and fully respects the interinstitutional balance.
it will also of course continue to drive the external aspects of the union's key internal policies and a central question in the current debate is how to manage the programming of external assistance.
the creation of an entirely new external service is a major undertaking.
they will be equal in every sense.
the commission is open to this idea even if it may take some time to develop.
by bringing together the various actors in the field of external relations we can ensure that our relations with the outside world are clear coherent and driven by a single set of policy goals.
the high representative vice president and the commissioner for development will work extremely closely together on this.
we will learn together.
as for the scope of the service it needs to have a comprehensive overview of the union's relations with the rest of the world so it needs geographical desks as well as horizontal services to cover questions such as cfsp and csdp human rights and relations with un bodies.
in most places this procedure will go quite smoothly.
the commission supports the creation of the eeas wants it to succeed and will contribute in every way possible to ensure that it does so.
the key question for us all is what the eeas should be able to deliver.
the service will also be responsible for the administration of delegations though the people inside delegations will come as now from different services not just the eeas but also the commission services and maybe other institutions and bodies of the european union.
we and the council secretariat will work together with the high representative vice president to ensure that there is no gap.
i am sorry to have been a little long but i think this is such an important matter.
the coreper ambassadors are looking at how best to ensure that high quality member states' diplomats can be brought into the service early.
i very recently attended the tenth anniversary of the european diplomatic programme which has anticipated and shown the way.
the high representative vice president needs the authority to manage the service but the service also needs to serve the eu system as a whole most obviously the president of the european commission and the president of the european council as well as the other commissioners with a role in external relations. it must be able to offer its assistance both in brussels and in third countries to the european parliament and to its official delegations which travel abroad.
the report raises the promising idea of the creation of a european diplomatic academy.
this will give them new responsibilities but it will not diminish their role in representing the full range of commission activities.
we will be bringing together officials and diplomats from the different institutions and all the member states.
after the decisive result of the irish referendum we all hope that the czech ratification can finally follow very soon.
it is obviously important that all the institutions work together to help the newly appointed high representative vice president in his or her task of preparing the decision on the creation of an eeas a decision which as you know requires the consent of the commission and the consultation of parliament.
as we reach the final stages allow me to congratulate parliament and particularly the constitutional affairs committee with elmar brok as rapporteur on delivering its opinion on the key element of the lisbon treaty which is the external european action service.
the creation of the eeas offers the european union and all its component institutions the chance to achieve what we have long hoped for to have a common voice in the world and to strengthen the eu's influence in the world.
if we achieve this on the twentieth anniversary of the reunification of europe it will be a great day for europe and its citizens not least because we will be able to focus all our attention on the pressing challenges and policy concerns that lie ahead of us.
i agree with the principles of transparency democracy and coherence that you have just mentioned.
together with this important debate and many other consultations with parliament representatives it provides vital input to our work with the swedish presidency but also with the member states and the council secretariat over the coming months.
the close involvement of the member states in the new service is one of its key innovations.
in the meantime we can make good use of the member states' diplomatic academies.
the creation of the eeas will require a variety of decisions probably including changes to the financial regulation and the staff regulations both of which require a commission proposal and adoption through codecision.
for this training is essential.
the eu delegations should be responsible for representation coordination and negotiation as from the day the treaty comes into force.
as we know a common foreign policy is not just the sum of twenty seven national policies.
it will neither be intergovernmental nor purely based on the community method but we must ensure that the new system has a genuinely european approach inspired by and grounded in the strengths of community policies as again was mentioned.
the aim is to prevent duplication and to ensure that all those responsible for delivering eu external policy work effectively together and the commission will also continue to have services responsible for trade development policy aid implementation humanitarian aid and enlargement.
from the entry into force of the treaty commission delegations will become eu delegations.
but we need to look further.
it will as your report says evolve over time.
for the present it is a challenge for us to ensure that the eeas functions well and in the interests of all the european citizens the member states and the european union.
we also believe that all members of the eeas whether officials of the eu institutions or member states' officials on temporary contracts should enjoy the same rights.
it must carry authority as the core of eu external policy the place where policy is developed and coordinated.
the fact that the new high representative will also be a vice president of the commission responsible for coordinating all of the eu's external action will help.