Text tabled : A6-0505/2008

  Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL), in writing. – (PT) We agree with various aspects highlighted by the report, in particular:

- the fact that the policy shift has resulted in a loss of potential market opportunities for EU producers and has led to increased reliance on imported food from outside the European Union, produced to very different production standards, thereby placing EU agricultural products at a disadvantage;

- the concern that dramatic increases in agricultural production costs may result in less usage and reduced output, which will exacerbate the food crisis in Europe and the world;

- the need for policy instruments aimed at averting such large and damaging price fluctuations;

- the concern about increasing market concentration in the food retail sector, which has led to the development of monopolies, and the need for alternative solutions in negotiations with retailers, in favour of small farmers.

However, there are also aspects with which we cannot agree:

- the increased orientation of the common agricultural policy towards the market and the devaluation of food sovereignty, with the emphasis solely being placed on food security, forgetting that this is difficult without food sovereignty.

That is why we abstained.