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Reports and Memo's
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Brussels, october 1995
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Decisive years for european consumer protection
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The problems of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and Consumer Health
From the beginning the CAP was undermined by the habit of decisive decisions being adopted under strong political pressure rather than competence in the matter. The price/quantity subsidy with, until a few years ago, the guarantee of full disposal for the main products without the requirement of normal quality standards led very quickly from a deficit supply situation to well-known overproduction and unmarketable surpluses. The consequences were wastefulness, declining quality standards, etc. and an ever heavier burden on the environment and ground and surface water. The price/quantity subsidy benefited the large enterprises which resorted chiefly to mass production of slaughter animals and intensive cultivation of plant feedingstuffs. An ever larger number of small and medium-sized holdings paid the consequences of this policy. The number of people employed in the agricultural workforce in the EC-12 dropped from 16,3 million in 1970 to 7,6 million in 1992.
Every year the European Union spends more and more money for an ever decreasing number of farmers, and every year the income gap between large and small agricultural holdings widens further, not to mention that about 70% of all subsidies go to the benefit of the processing industry alone and barely 20% to the farmers themselves.
Even though the GATT Agreement has brought about a reduction in quantity/subsidies and budget cuts, it still remains to be seen whether the surplus problem will ever be realistically solved. Intensive production methods have not changed and therefore neither the risks for the environment and for human health as a result of residues from pesticides and fertilizers.
Quite apart from the concern for the consumers' health due to residues, intensive cultivation methods and the mass production of slaughter animals have also been the cause of lower quality of products. It should also be stressed at this point that for some years now more and more producers are attempting to escape from the anonymity of mass production by the means of an own label. That is the purpose of the regulations on organic production and geographic origin and special characteristics in fact.
Before going into more detail concerning health, environment and quality problems, it should be said that unfortunately the planned reforms for the sugar and wine sector were not effected. The very expensive - from the consumer viewpoint -sugar market organisation was extended until the year 2001 whilst the reform of the wine market organisation was dragged out by the Council.
Whether the reform of the fruit and vegetables market regulations were to bring any benefit to the consumer, should it be implemented, remains to be seen. The Commission published its relevant proposal on 4 October 1995. What needs improving from the consumer viewpoint are mainly the quality standards for fruit as well as tackling the problem of the harvest period and the length of time in storage before the goods are placed on the market.
Following the eight attempts made so far to reform the CAP, a real attempt at reform should now be undertaken that would restore the quality of the soil and water on a level tolerable for human health by the means of stricter quality criteria and effective controls. Furthermore it is constantly being alleged that agriculture contributes to conservation and care of the rural environment but nothing of note can be reported so far in this respect. It would require less intensive mass production methods especially in highly populated regions where environment pollution is particularly heavy to bear for human beings.
Finally, the European Union must scale down excess self-supply, and even full self-supply, in view of the enlargement of the Union towards Eastern Europe and also for reasons of economic development because
- the economic strength and increased prosperity of the European Union do not stem from subsidized agricultural exports which on the contrary are very costly for the taxpayers, but from exports of commercial and industrial goods as well as technical know-how and services;
- the CAP requires an in-depth reform and not simply a healing of the symptoms because otherwise enlargement of the Union towards Central and Eastern Europe is inconceivable where the conditions of the quality of the soil and surface areas as well as those of the climate are in some regions better than in the EU-15;
- forced agricultural production for the purpose of exports must be strictly rejected especially in densely populated regions of the European Union because it places a burden on the basic foodstuff « water » by filling it with poisonous substances which put human health at risk not only because of residues of pesticides and fertilizers but also of those of excrement from mass production of slaughter animals;
- in order to reduce mass production which is costly for the taxpayer and the consumer who besides hardly favours this type of production, the following should also be forbidden :
- intensive plant production for industrial purposes on the land set aside for which the farmers receive compensation in the form of subsidies anyway; also the use of antibiotics, tranquillizers and other medicines in meat production;
- the thoughtless spraying of fertilizers and pesticides in the production of vegetable foodstuffs according to the principle of « the more, the better ».
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[ TABLE OF CONTENTS ]
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