MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
11.4.2005
pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by Ilda Figueiredo, Pedro Guerreiro, Giusto Catania, Helmuth Markov, Adamos Adamou and Miguel Portas
on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
on the effects of the drought in Portugal
B6‑0260/2005
European Parliament resolution on the effects of the drought in Portugal
The European Parliament,
– having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas Portugal is currently going through a period of exceptionally severe drought, the social, economic and environmental effects of which are already devastating and will only worsen as summer and the dry season approach,
B. whereas rainfall levels in recent months have been well below normal for the time of year and whereas Portugal has been affected by a variety of other weather conditions (frosts, strong winds and hail) which have had serious socio-economic repercussions, particularly where agriculture is concerned; the situation is causing a crisis in the agriculture and livestock sector and in a number of regions it is jeopardising the public water supply,
C. whereas water plays such an essential role in human activity that everything possible should be done in order to make it available in adequate quantities and at an adequate standard of quality where and when it is needed, without jeopardising strategic reserves and the role which water plays in ecological terms,
D. whereas drinking water is a public asset and a universal right,
E. whereas the drought must be tackled by means of short- and long-term measures designed to make Portugal less vulnerable to hydrological variation,
F. whereas a period of drought may be followed by a period of heavy rainfall which may cause flooding (as occurred in 1995),
G. whereas according to Portugal's National Water Institute the volume of water stored has increased slightly in virtually all reservoirs (irrespective of the last few weeks' rainfall), but whereas this does not mean a great deal since the variation is very small, and whereas water resources (including boreholes) are well below the norm for this time of the year,
H. whereas farmers and livestock breeders have already suffered irrecoverable losses, there has been a significant drop in hydro-electric power production and the public supply to certain localities has been disrupted,
I. whereas the autumn/winter crops have been lost on account of poor germination and/or abnormal growth; this is apparent in natural and/or sown pastureland and fodder and farmers are being forced to start using their stocks of hay and straw before they had planned to do so and to buy in straw and animal feed, which will naturally diminish their production and increase their costs; whereas expectations concerning spring/summer crops have been greatly lowered, since the dry period is starting and both surface water and ground water reserves are greatly reduced; this poses a threat to crops sown or planted during the spring/summer period, such as tomatoes, maize, rice, fruit and vegetables; it will also affect the feeding of animals and the normal growth of autumn crops such as grapes and citrus fruit,
J. whereas under the CAP reform, farmers are required to assume responsibility for management of the risks which were previously absorbed by means of market- and price-support policies and whereas as a result of trade liberalisation, farming continues to be vulnerable to risks and specific crises which are beyond a farmer's control,
K. having regard to the damage which fire caused in 2003-2004 both to forests and the environment and to farmers' incomes, and whereas the country needs to be reforested; whereas some of the reforesting which was carried out specifically in order to replace forests which had been destroyed by fire has been lost for good on account of the lack of humidity in the soil; whereas the current drought increases the risk of fire and requires fire-prevention and fire-fighting measures to be prepared in advance,
L. whereas the current state of affairs has landed many small and medium-sized farmers in serious financial difficulty and is preventing them from making social-security contributions and paying off the loans which they took out for the current season,
M. whereas the construction of water-storage systems and of irrigation channels (which have been on the drawing board for some time) is significantly behind schedule,
N. whereas implementation of the Kyoto Protocol should be the subject of greater attention and greater political resolve on the part of the Member States, the European Union and the world as a whole, in order to prevent global warming and the effects which this has on climate change,
1. Emphasises the fact that water is irreplaceable in its various functions and that it is a public asset, a universal human right, a life support, a climate and environmental factor upon which all of life is dependent and a strategic reusable production factor; it must be protected and may not under any circumstances be treated as a commodity;
2. Expresses the need for water use to be optimised and for a hierarchy to be established amongst the purposes which water serves, with priority to be given to performance of the most essential functions; this requires not only awareness and coordination of efforts on the part of public bodies, social and economic operators and the population as a whole but also urgent action to protect the sources from which water comes (in particular those which are used for the public supply) and the installation of the infrastructure which is essential to the collection, treatment and distribution of water in the places in which it is most needed; calls upon the Member States to ensure that priority is given to water issues in Portugal when the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund are applied;
3. Expresses the need for practical measures involving the various public bodies to be drawn up as a contribution towards anticipating and counteracting the causes of climate phenomena such as droughts;
4. Expresses the need for practical measures to be proposed for the purpose of supporting local authorities and Portuguese farmers in the areas most affected by drought, in particular by drawing on the European Solidarity Fund;
5. Considers that steps should be taken towards setting up a public farmers' insurance fund financed by the Community, which would enable farmers to be paid a minimum income in the event of natural disasters such as drought, storms, hail and fire;
6. Considers that the full amount of the agricultural aid due to farmers should be paid in advance;
7. Considers that aid paid per head of livestock should not be penalised or curtailed, so as to enable greater numbers of animals to be held should the situation continue;
8. Expresses the need for intervention cereals and also hay and straw from other Member States to be supplied on favourable terms;
9. Considers that financial support should be secured for the purpose of minimising the increase in costs and the drop in agricultural production, for granting a temporary exemption from social-security contributions (though with no loss of entitlements) for full-time farmers whose income does not exceed 12 ESUs, and for extending interest-free loans for a two-year period;
10. Expresses the need for Community support to be provided for pastureland and fodder produced on the edges of irrigated land where a certain amount of water is still available, thereby enabling animal feed to be produced and minimising the effects of the drought over the coming years;
11. Calls upon the Commission - following the statements made by Mrs Fischer Boel (Commissioner) at the 14 March 2005 Council meeting of Agriculture and Fisheries Ministers - not to create obstacles preventing Portugal from allocating state aid in response to the country's prolonged drought (in particular sectoral aid to the farmers affected);
12. Insists that the Kyoto Protocol must be complied with if further contributions to global warming are to be avoided;
13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Member States' governments and parliaments and the social partners.