MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
9.5.2005
pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by María del Pilar Ayuso González, María Esther Herranz García, Cristina Gutiérrez-Cortines and Cristóbal Montoro Romero
on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
on the drought in Spain
B6‑0307/2005
European Parliament resolution on the drought in Spain
The European Parliament,
– having regard to Articles 2 and 6 of the EC Treaty, which call for environmental criteria to be mainstreamed into the various Community policies, with a view to promoting environmentally sustainable economic development,
– having regard to Article 174 of the EC Treaty,
– having regard to the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) of December 1997 and the Community's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on 4 March 2002,
– having regard to the Commission's report on climate change and the European water dimension,
– having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas frost and drought have led to the destruction of numerous crops in Spain, including fruit trees, olive groves, herbaceous plants, horticultural products and flowers, as well as causing substantial losses to stockbreeding,
B. whereas the period from November 2004 to March 2005 was the driest Spain had seen since 1947, and as at 31 March 2005 the volume of water accumulated in the previous seven months was 37% less than the normal average for the same period,
C. whereas the period from January to March 2005 witnessed the lowest temperatures of frost registered in Spain in twenty years, with the destruction of millions of olive trees and fruit trees, as well as major losses in other agricultural sectors,
D. whereas after the frost had ended the drought persisted through April in Spain,
E. whereas the losses to producers will, by the next harvest period, stand at more than EUR 2 bn, and the consequences of the frost will continue for several years for many farmers who will not be able to restore their production levels in the short term, with particularly severe effects on olive cultivation areas, which will need drastic measures including slashing back or grubbing up young plantations, and also on the cultivation of fruit trees,
F. whereas, although olive growers will receive aids decoupled from production starting with the next harvest, Community support represents only a small proportion of their income, while this sector has suffered considerable losses in production capacity and next season's harvest is likely to be dramatically reduced in many regions,
G. whereas it is necessary to make use of the flexibility provided for in the common organisation of the market in fruit and vegetables in order to tackle cases of force majeure,
H. whereas frost and drought have the effect of worsening the losses incurred by stockbreeders in southern Spain from the immobilisation of livestock introduced to prevent the spread of 'blue tongue' disease,
I. whereas the fuel crisis is increasing farmers' costs, thus making matters worse for the sectors affected by the frost and drought,
J. whereas national aids scarcely compensate for the losses suffered by Spain's farmers and stockbreeders,
K. whereas the consequences of this climatic disaster are affecting numerous local economies, reaching record dimensions with the loss of thousands of jobs, many of them those of immigrants at a time when a major regularisation is taking place,
L. whereas the persistent drought in the Iberian peninsula is the result of climate change, while the EU still lacks an integrated policy for combating a phenomenon which could jeopardise the water supply of whole regions and accelerate desertification,
M. whereas in its report No 2 of 2004 on the impact of climate change in Europe the European Environment Agency admits that global warming is having more serious consequences in southern Europe, with potentially severe repercussions for Spain in terms of increased drought, more forest fires and greater risks to human health,
1. Expresses its solidarity with farmers and stockbreeders in Spain and in the Iberian peninsula as a whole, in view of the generally unfavourable climatic conditions they are facing;
2. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to implement a new system of support for farmers, aimed at tackling extreme climate change in agriculture and introducing a Community insurance model or compensation mechanism which would complement the existing national insurance systems by making provision for income loss and reduced production capacity;
3. Calls, in this connection, for a swifter launch of the pilot project agreed in the 2005 budget procedure for establishing a Community insurance regime for compensation in case of natural disasters;
4. Calls on the Commission to release resources from the Solidarity Fund with a view to alleviating the damage caused to the productive capacity of whole regions, given that the frost and drought have affected living conditions and economic stability in numerous areas;
5. Favours extending the eligibility criteria for Solidarity Fund aid in case of climatic disasters under the financial perspective for 2007-2013;
6. Calls on the Commission to improve the eligibility conditions for aid under the common agricultural policy, by means of the following measures:
- greater flexibility in the set-aside regime;
- authorisation of grazing on set-aside land;
- extension of the obligation to achieve flowering for those receiving Community aid for herbaceous crops;
- extension of the general obligation regarding grain legume use for those receiving aid and the possibility of direct use of the arable land concerned for grazing;
- greater mobilisation of intervention cereals in order to meet livestock's feeding needs;
- bringing CAP aids forward to September.
7. Asks, in the framework of the common organisation of the market in fruit and vegetables, for application to the operational programmes for 2006 of Article 4(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1433/2003 in order to ensure a minimum value for marketable production of 65% of the value for the earlier reference period;
8. Calls on the Commission, in the context of the reform of the COM in fruit and vegetables, to introduce as much flexibility as possible into the rules for calculating the Community contribution to the operational funds in cases of climate disaster, with a view to discounting, for several consecutive marketing years, the loss of turnover suffered by producers' organisations;
9. Favours, in addition, modifying the operational programmes with a view to taking account of production costs relating to replanting or to compensating for a reduction in planned investment;
10. Advocates, for lemon cultivation and in the face of the expected loss of a large part of the harvest, eliminating the sanctions for failing to observe a contract with the processing sector, since the frosts are a case of force majeure and must be recognised as such;
11. Calls on the Commission to authorise the granting of loans and special credits on a zero-interest basis, as well as bonuses in respect of amortisations and an initial grace period;
12. Calls on the Commission to activate the exceptional measures provided for under the COMs for the different forms of meat production, with a view to compensating the stockbreeders affected by the immobilisation of livestock in the wake of the 'blue tongue' outbreak;
13. Urges the Commission to consider introducing specific Community legislation in order to tackle the agricultural fuel crisis and encourage the use of biofuels, thus reducing the Union's present high dependency on oil;
14. Calls for more resources for combating forest fires and for a properly organised Community strategy for dealing with a problem which is being made worse by the drought;
15. Calls on the Commission to submit a report with a view to implementing an integrated policy to combat the effects of climate change;
16. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Spanish government and the regional authorities responsible for the areas affected.