By José Manuel Barroso
President of the European Commission
Opening ceremony for International Green Week
I know the Green Week is an important international meeting for farming, the food industry and consumers. I am also well aware that it is an influential political forum.
The 2007 Green Week will be more oriented towards Europe than ever:
Partly because for the next six months, Germany will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union;
Partly because in March this year, Berlin will host the ceremonies to mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome;
And partly because events in Europe are of direct relevance to all of you.
2007 will be an important year for the European Union. It will see the relaunch of the institutional debate to find a way out of the current impasse. The European Commission and I myself will lend all our support to the German Presidency and to Chancellor Merkel to move this process ahead. 2007 is also the year of consolidating Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to the Union. And it is the starting point for a whole new generation of long-term European investment programmes, such as the Structural Funds and the Framework Programme of Research.
In the area of external policy a number of important new dossiers will demand our attention in the medium or long term. For example, last month we suggested giving greater impetus to Europe’s neighbourhood policy. We want to reinforce political cooperation and offer our partners in the Mediterranean and to the East a clear prospect of closer trade and economic ties with the European Union.
We also want closer links with Russia. Russia and the EU are strategic partners. But for the EU such cooperation must be based on its core values, and in particular on respect for fundamental freedoms and human rights. We cannot afford to compromise on this. Nevertheless, I hope that soon the conditions for negotiating a new partnership agreement with Russia will be met. In the meantime, I welcome that Russia has decided to lift its ban on European meat imports, and that an agreement can officially be signed tomorrow here in Berlin. Another important element in our relationship with Russia will, for obvious reasons, be energy.
European Energy Strategy
Energy is also one of the main subjects I want to concentrate on today: the low carbon revolution which the European Union hopes to stimulate through its integrated European energy policy.
A few days ago I presented a far-reaching strategy aimed at ensuring a competitive, sustainable and secure energy supply in Europe, while at the same time effectively combating climate change. This is one of the greatest challenges currently facing the European Union. It is a serious economic issue for growth and jobs in Europe, which is our priority. It is also a vital question for our planet and future generations. After all, we talk about global warming, not about European warming.
The increasing scarcity of resources, our external vulnerability, the need to ensure our energy security and competitiveness, the importance of investing in renewed infrastructure and technological innovation have all transformed the energy landscape. These factors are encouraging us to change our consumption patterns, develop clean, renewable energy sources and, above all, think differently about our future. This is a priority for the European Union and also, I am pleased to say, a prime concern of the German Presidency and of Chancellor Merkel.
Energy and Agriculture
This challenge also concerns you, as farmers.
You will have a greater role to play in the energy revolution that is about to take place. Agriculture, traditionally our source of nourishment, will acquire an additional function in the future as a source of bioenergy.
As the EU branches out into the new field of energy, this may open up a new source of activity for you. The reform of the CAP, our Common Agricultural Policy, and, in particular, the move to cut the link between support and production, have to some extent prepared the ground by enabling you to concentrate production on what the market demands. The reform also introduced criteria for sustainable development – particularly compliance with environmental requirements, food safety and animal health standards. In this respect the reform pays close attention to the concerns and needs of consumers, which is a good thing.
As I said, the European Union has adopted a highly ambitious energy strategy.
At the heart of this strategy is a mandatory EU target of supplying 20% of our energy consumption from renewable sources. Our roadmap for renewable energy proposes a minimum target of 10% for biofuels by 2020. This objective is feasible without creating unmanageable tensions between food and non-food production. It will have a positive impact on agricultural income and land use. It will also halt the trend of converting agricultural land to other uses.
In the face of these new energy and environmental challenges, the reform of the CAP will come into its own. It is already encouraging farmers to grow energy crops by measures such as decoupling direct aid, the specific energy crops scheme and the possibility of using set-aside for the cultivation of non-food crops.
Bioenergy could prove to be a strong card for the future of European farmers. It provides them with an opportunity to produce with an eye to the market.
If for instance a German farmer can earn more today by selling the maize he produces for processing into bio-gas than for traditional feed production, we should see this as opening up fresh opportunities for a new generation of farmer-entrepreneurs.
CAP Reform
These are promising prospects at a time when European agriculture faces a number of pressures, both internally and externally.
Foremost among the internal pressures is the impact of the accession of Romania and Bulgaria which, while we welcome both countries in the EU, for your sector, will mean having to integrate between four and five million extra farmers who need help in modernising and catching up.
Then European taxpayers will want to know how the public funds invested in the CAP are being spent, and to whom. The public have questions for their political leaders and institutions. They wonder whether the high level of expenditure is justified, given that the number of holdings is falling all the time. These are legitimate questions.
The CAP “health check” which will be carried out in 2008-2009 will provide the answers they are seeking. This “health check” will be about ensuring that the CAP is working as it should, in line with society’s expectations. It will also be about simplifying it where possible. The aim is to improve certain instruments, where necessary, and to examine the workings of decoupling, which is proving complex in some instances. It is not, and was never meant to be, about further fundamental reform.
As for the re-examination of the EU’s overall budget, which will take place at more or less the same time, in 2008-2009, I should point out that this is concerned with the post-2013 era.
Conclusion
Let me conclude. I want to give you reasons for confidence today. I think we should be realistic, but also be confident.
Realistic because there will have to be adjustments. Confident because we should not miss the opportunities that are there and for which we have the right instruments to seize them.
The reform of the CAP offers a solid and stable foundation for the efforts we all have to invest in order to make our European agriculture competitive and responsive, and to ensure that it complies with the highest health, safety and environmental standards. But we must look further ahead and develop a long-term strategy, setting ourselves a clear objective for the period after 2013.
The green shoots of opportunity are there. It is up to all of us now to work together and ensure the best possible harvest.
Last but not least, I don’t want to miss the opportunity to invite all of you to visit the European Union stand, entitled “Lebenstraum Dorf” (“Village of a life-time’s dream”), and which is stand Nr.7 in hall 21B.
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