Verbatim report of proceedings

Monday, 3 April 2006 - Strasbourg

8. One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

  President. The next item is the one-minute speeches on matters of political importance.

Many speakers are listed and, once again, I must warn you that, unless you all conform strictly to the speaking time of one minute, it will not be possible for everybody who has asked to speak to do so, particularly if there are further requests for the floor during the sitting, as is always the case.

  Marcin Libicki (UEN). – (PL) Mr President, for several years now the European Parliament has been investigating the Lloyds case relating to the first non-life insurance directive and to the way in which this directive has, or rather has not been properly applied, especially in the last 20 years before the law was duly modified following the opening of an infringement procedure against the United Kingdom in 2001.

The intention of the last exchange of letters on the Lloyds case between us, Mr President, was to close the matter and assure the petitioners of the support of the European Parliament. May I ask whether you have anything to add that might enable us to finalise this matter?

  President. Mr Libicki, as you know, I wrote to you about the Lloyd’s petitioners on 17 January 2006. As I reminded you in that letter, Parliament’s most recent resolution on the subject – adopted in June 2005 – confirms its impression that there are substantive and reasonable grounds to believe that the first non-life insurance directive and its later, modified versions were not properly transposed and applied in the United Kingdom.

  Marie-Noëlle Lienemann (PSE). – (FR) Mr President, I wished to draw the European Parliament’s attention to the serious project undertaken by the French Government, which consists of introducing a ‘first job contract’.

This is undoubtedly a serious threat to France’s social model, but I understood – and some of my fellow Members will speak on this subject – that threats of this kind exist in many countries in which casual work offering little security is the only solution offered to people, particularly young people, when they enter the world of work. From the perspective of the commitments made via the Lisbon Strategy, whereby our European Union seeks to be the most competitive area in the world at the same time as developing an original social model, it would seem highly appropriate to me that the European institutions call on France not to bring into question a point that was specifically upheld by the International Labour Office, namely that no redundancies should be made without a legitimate reason.

Be that as it may, we can observe a great sense of anxiety among our young Europeans about their future, and it would seem important to me that we reaffirm our desire to fight against what is referred to as atypical work and job insecurity.

  Józef Pinior (PSE). – (PL) Mr President, may I draw Members’ attention to the unfair taxation principles currently applied in Poland to Polish nationals working abroad. The problem applies first and foremost to the several hundred thousand people working in the United Kingdom and to the UK/Poland Double Taxation Agreement signed in 1976.

The Polish method of calculating the tax payable on income received by Polish nationals in the United Kingdom is unfavourable and may in fact lead to double taxation. Both the UK Government and, above all, the Polish Government must ensure that the Agreement is renegotiated as soon as possible in the interests of European Union citizens. Poles deciding to leave their homeland to work in other countries contribute to the wealth of the whole of the European Union; they frequently do the hardest work for low pay and live in difficult conditions. In many cases, they are exploited by dishonest intermediaries.

The Polish Minister of Finance should not levy any tax at all on income received by Polish nationals abroad and repatriated by them. At the same time, the European Parliament should come to the defence of those people, guarding justice and the right of the citizens of the European Union to a decent life.

  Geoffrey Van Orden (PPE-DE). – Mr President, I should like to raise the question of Zimbabwe. As we all know, there has unfortunately been no change for the better in that country. On the contrary, the political situation continues to deteriorate and half of the rural population is surviving solely on international food aid.

Parliament has consistently taken the position that no assistance from the EU should go to Zimbabwe other than through NGOs; it should not be in any way in the hands of government. I am therefore a little alarmed to hear that apparently the Commission is intending to release EUR 1 million in aid to Zimbabwe for so-called ‘parliamentary reform’, administered, admittedly, through the United Nations Development Programme. The United Nations Development Programme itself states that it is an ‘impartial and trusted partner with the Zimbabwean Government’. I hope the Commission can give us an explanation before it releases any aid and that it can also give us assurances on this matter.

  Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou (PPE-DE). – (EL) Mr President, I should like to emphasise that support and respect need to be safeguarded for the human rights of all European citizens without exception, but especially of the large majority which, for 'historical' reasons, is considered to enjoy them and for that reason does not claim them through organised groups which exert pressure and protest.

The apportionment of the rights of the population of the European Union on matters for which, of course, no one thinks of denying the right of non-discrimination often results in misunderstandings and doubts as to whether the self-evident applies to the silent majority as regards every type of right: the right to life and human dignity and to respect for freedom of expression and choice. Moreover, inalienable fundamental human rights are respected and supported by the majority of the population, which is why support for the rights of the few must not give the impression of the abolition of the rights of the majority.

  Maria Matsouka (PSE). – (EL) Mr President, the disturbances in France cannot fail to move my generation, to which the famous First Employment Contract or, to put it differently, the 'disposable worker' model is addressed.

Young Europeans, under the pressure of unemployment, may decide to participate in this experiment. In addition, the risk of a clash between the generations is inevitable. Older workers will see young people as their competitors. They will be squeezed out by young 'disposable workers', by shifting cheap and disciplined manpower. These coercive solutions being proposed by advocates of economic liberalism clearly undervalue the subject of history: the citizen, the worker, the person. That will also be their fatal error.

Recently the Constitutional Treaty was voted down. Now there are social clashes for the full withdrawal of the law on 'working pawns'. The social movement is strengthening, rejecting and making claims. Unemployment can and must be combated, but not in an unruly manner, not by ignoring the needs of society and certainly not at the expense of a generation which is not to blame for the world it has inherited.

(Applause)

  Andrzej Tomasz Zapałowski (NI). – (PL) Mr President, some Western European printed media have recently taken to describing the Polish Government and its power base as nationalist. This type of content is scandalous and offensive to millions of Poles. It is this Government and its supporters that are grounded in the proud history of such events as World War II, when tens of thousands of Poles risked their lives to hide Jews and people of other nationalities, and when thousands of them paid for it with their lives.

This so-called political correctness, which ruins freedom of speech in the European Union, defines all those who talk about patriotism, national traditions and the importance of Christianity for Europe as chauvinism, nationalism and perhaps before long as fascism. They regard as normal all behaviours contrary to nature and to the traditional values of Christian Europe, as well as those condoning insults to the feelings of Catholics and members of other faiths.

Irrespective of what is promulgated by Western European press, Poland will remain faithful to its traditions and democratic values.

  Jörg Leichtfried (PSE). – (DE) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to take this opportunity today to discuss the way in which the Commissioner handles questions from MEPs. I recently put a very detailed question on three specific issues to the Commission. What I got by way of a reply was a brief excerpt from a legal text.

I think that an organisation such as the Commission can be expected to address the issues that Members of this House are raising in the questions they put, to provide answers that relate to the substance of those question and not just to forward a legal text of the kind that I, as a lawyer, could have sought out for myself. That is not what the whole exercise is all about.

Mr President, I would like to make this question, and the answer to it, available to you; perhaps you will be as outraged as I am at this reply and will be able to do something about improving this state of affairs.

  President. Mr Leichtfried, I will be very happy to try to communicate your complaint to the Commission, in order to ensure that in the future replies do not consist merely of reduced photocopies of texts that everybody is aware of.

  Jelko Kacin (ALDE) . – (SL) The question of human rights is an integral part of the fabric of the foundations of the European Union. The latest Report of the US State Department on Human Rights Practices of 8 March 2006 also mentions a failure to comply with the decision of the Austrian Constitutional Court, which has been demanding for years that bilingual regional signs be posted in German and Slovene in the southern part of the Austrian province of Carinthia, which is home to a Slovene minority.

On the very same day, however, Jörg Haider, Governor of Carinthia, instigated proceedings against District Governor August Muri for ‘abusing his public office’ by finally issuing an order for bilingual signs to be posted in Bleiburg/Pliberk. Two bilingual signs have also been placed on view in our Parliament building in Brussels.

As you are well aware, Russia has issued an official proposal for breaches of the rights of the Slovene minority in Austria to be placed on the agenda of the EU–Russia Summit. I would be interested to know how the Commission will act to resolve this glaring example of a breach of the rights of the Slovene minority, at the very time when Austria holds the presidency of the European Union.

  Feleknas Uca (GUE/NGL). – (DE) Mr President, we are shocked by the pictures and the news that have been reaching us since Monday of last week from many Kurdish towns, but mainly from Diyarbakir. The resemblance to the sort of pictures we get from Gaza or from West Jordan is astonishing. So far, 11 people have been killed by the Turkish security forces, the youngest of them being a three-year-old child.

Hundreds of people have been injured, some of them severely, while hundreds have been imprisoned. This situation must be prevented from escalating further. Prime Minister Erdogan’s statements, to the effect, for example, that ‘Our security forces will take whatever action is necessary against all those who make themselves the instruments of terrorism, even if they are women or children’ do nothing to help achieve a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish problem.

I ask the Commission, and you, Mr Borrell, to contact Mr Beydemir, the mayor of Diyarbakir, and I demand that an ad hoc delegation be assembled and despatched to examine in detail what has happened in the affected areas.

  Richard Corbett (PSE). – Mr President, I want to draw Members’ attention to a set of pan-European scams which target small businesses. The best known of these is the ‘European City Guide’ from Spain, but there are others: ‘Construct Data’ in Austria, ‘Novachannel’ and ‘Intercable Verlag’ in Switzerland, ‘Deutsche Addressdienst’ and ‘TVV Verlag’ in Germany. They all mail deliberately deceptive documents to small businesses across Europe. These are disguised as free update forms, but hidden in the small print is a notice indicating that signature of the form will incur huge costs.

Recently a Swiss newspaper revealed that there is just one man – Meinolf Lüdenbach – behind most of these organisations. He also controls the debt companies that pursue victims once they have been duped into signing. His network amounts to a conspiracy to defraud small businesses in Europe.

These scams hop from country to country, taking advantage of our divergent legal systems to escape justice. I am therefore delighted that Commissioner Kyprianou has agreed to look into this matter and I would urge all colleagues who have examples of these in their constituencies – and there are many of you, I know – to write to him with information so that he can complete his dossier.

  Manolis Mavrommatis (PPE-DE). – (EL) Mr President, numerous Members have referred on occasion to the time taken by the competent institutional bodies to reply to questions they have tabled.

The most recent incident concerns my written question, which I tabled on 27 September 2005 and which referred to the meeting of the Committee of Ministers on 11 October 2005. The competent institutional body replied to my question five months later, on 9 March 2006 to be precise, informing me in just three lines of text that the Council had not discussed the matter on which I had requested a position and had no plans to do so.

What therefore, Mr President and honourable Members, is the role of MEPs and the function of the European Parliament and what of respect for and responsibilities towards the European citizens who have entrusted us with the position which we occupy today? What justification shall I give the citizens for the reply which they expected and which we never received?

  President. Mr Mavrommatis, your complaint is extremely reasonable. The only reason I can imagine for them taking so long to reply to you, just to tell you in the end that the Council has not dealt with the issue, is that they were waiting for the Council to deal with it, but even under those circumstances the time taken does not seem reasonable. I shall inform the Council and the Commission of the need to ensure that Members’ questions are answered in good time, as in your case, and properly, that is to say, not just that they are received within a reasonable time limit, but that they are proper replies with real content. I am sure that the appropriate authorities within the Council and the Commission will take good note of this request.

  Margrietus van den Berg (PSE). – (NL) Mr President, as you said just a moment ago, Charles Taylor, who is accused of war crimes, has been brought before the UN War Tribunal in Sierra Leone. As Chief Observer of the European Union's election observation mission in Liberia, I have urged the newly elected President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to insist on extradition. She agreed to this, provided that the Nigerian President and the African Union would lend their support. The arrest and bringing before the law of Charles Taylor is a triumph for the new Liberia and for not only the African Union, but certainly also for the EU, both of which have passed this test with flying colours. This reflects credit on the work we did there. Since the arrest, a shadow has disappeared from over western Africa and the region has been given a chance of peace and a chance to develop democracy. As Chief Observer of the election observation mission in Liberia, I warmly support the idea of the chairmen inviting her to speak here before the plenary, and I hope that in the meantime, the EU will continue to lend its strong support to the Millennium Objectives and democratisation in that country, for that is what the citizens over there deserve right now.

  President. Mr van den Berg, as I pointed out before, the President of Liberia will be invited and let us hope that she can come soon.

  Mirosław Mariusz Piotrowski (NI). – (PL) Mr President, I wrote to you on 16 and 23 March of this year in my capacity as Chairman of the IND/DEM Group office, concerning the so-called reconstruction of the Independence and Democracy Group of which the Parliament authorities were informed by the Group’s leadership during the last plenary session. In the view of the Polish delegation, the procedure leading to the exclusion of two national delegations, the Italian and the Polish, from the IND/DEM Group was unlawful. May I ask when we can expect an answer to the above letters?

  President. Mr Piotrowski, just before the sitting began I held a meeting with Mr Bonde and Mr Farage; we discussed this issue and I am waiting for them to communicate to me their views about the situation and the measures to be taken in writing. I hope that I will be able to communicate something to you about it at the beginning of tomorrow’s sitting.

  Marc Tarabella (PSE). – (FR) Mr President, it was exactly 1 500 days ago that Ingrid Betancourt and her colleague, Clara Rojas, were kidnapped by the FARC in Colombia, thus joining the excessively large group of 3 000 hostages, to say nothing of the thousands of missing persons in that country.

I am speaking today on behalf of the International Federation of the Ingrid Betancourt Committees which, in collaboration with her family, has three requests. Firstly, actively to support the mediation efforts of the three countries consisting of France, Switzerland and Spain. Secondly, to put strong pressure on the FARC, via the organisations that support it overseas and especially in countries that have not included it on their list of terrorist organisations, so that it responds positively to the proposal submitted by the group of the three countries, thereby demonstrating its genuine desire to reach a humanitarian agreement. Thirdly and finally, to put strong pressure on the Colombian Government to comply with the Geneva Convention, which Colombia ratified. This Convention does indeed stipulate that, in the event of an internal conflict, the government is obliged – in line with the commitment it made previously - to conclude humanitarian agreements in order to save as many human lives as possible.

  Ryszard Czarnecki (NI). – (PL) Mr President, last night was the first anniversary of the death of a great man and a great European, Pope John Paul II.

I am grateful for the opportunity to pay tribute to a man who was and will remain a symbol of interfaith dialogue: between Christianity and Judaism, between Christianity and Islam. John Paul II is also a symbol of tolerance and respect for all people, irrespective of race, nationality, gender, social class or financial status. A Pope who came from Central and Eastern Europe, he repeatedly stressed the unity of Europe, even during the times of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain. In Santiago de Compostela in Spain, some 20 years ago, he spoke of Europe as representing unity in diversity. It is my hope that those words have remained relevant to this day.

  President. Mr Czarnecki, indeed a year has passed since the death of His Holiness Pope John Paul II. At that time, I was on an official visit in Lithuania and I witnessed the great emotion felt by the Europeans of the countries of the East at the death of a person who had such a great impact on the process that led to the subsequent enlargement of the European Union.

  Ioannis Gklavakis (PPE-DE). – (EL) Mr President, the recent heavy rainfall in the area of Bulgaria and northern Greece caused the River Evros to burst its banks. The river flooded thousands of acres of agricultural land, damaging both horticulture, in areas that had been sown, and animal farming, given that over 3 000 head of sheep, goats, pigs and cows drowned. Numerous villages were flooded and many houses were totally immersed under water.

Alongside the relevant action which will be taken by the individual Member States, is the European Union prepared to demonstrate its support in this difficult time in order to send a message to the farmers in the countries affected that the European Union is by their side because, as we know, solidarity is the leading principle in the European Union?

  Philip Claeys (NI). – (NL) Mr President, I should like to express my displeasure with the final declaration of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly that was held on 27 March. Whilst I can of course appreciate the importance of a dialogue between the north and south of the Mediterranean, I am not convinced that a dialogue of that kind serves any purpose if it results in a unilateral admission of guilt, in this case by Europe. I do not think there is any other word for it when I read this final declaration. First of all, the Danish cartoons are condemned with an obligatory brief sentence, or clause, about violence against those cartoons. Although people are quite specific about those Danish cartoons, anything else is deliberately kept very vague and very general. There is talk of promoting democracy, but there is no reference anywhere to the discrimination systematically meted out to Christians or other minority groups in the Muslim world. We certainly do not have to go as far as Afghanistan to find examples of this. In Turkey, for example, a change of religion must be notified to the government. In that country, an Italian Catholic priest was recently murdered for what he represents. In that country, it is made virtually impossible to restore Christian buildings. I regret the fact that this has not been brought up for discussion.

  President. It does not in fact appear in the conclusions, but, as you know, the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly has not finished its work. It will continue to debate, and I hope that Parliament’s representatives in this Assembly will take up your suggestion and say as much. The only way that it can appear in the conclusions is for members of the Parliamentary Assembly to raise it there.

  Gerard Batten (IND/DEM). – Mr President, one of my constituents, Alexander Litvinenko, was formerly a lieutenant colonel in the Russian Federation’s FSB, the successor to the KGB. Mr Litvinenko’s exposure of illegal FSB activities forced him to seek political asylum abroad. Before deciding on a place of refuge, he consulted his friend, General Anatoly Trofimov, a former deputy chief of the FSB. General Trofimov reportedly said to Mr Litvinenko: ‘Don’t go to Italy, there are many KGB agents among the politicians. Romano Prodi is our man there’. In February 2006, Mr Litvinenko reported this information to Mario Scaramella of the Guzzanti Commission investigating KGB penetration of Italian politics.

This allegation against a former head of the European Commission is one of the utmost seriousness. It should be thoroughly investigated. The European Parliament should conduct its own investigation.

  President. All suggestions must be treated with respect. Are you suggesting that the European Parliament should investigate whether Italian politicians are agents of the KGB? Is that your proposal?

  Gerard Batten (IND/DEM). – I am suggesting it would be appropriate for Parliament to conduct such an investigation in view of Mr Prodi’s former position as President of the European Commission. It seems that the much-vaunted democratic credentials of this Parliament could be enhanced by such an investigation.

  President. I fear that we will not have time to carry out that investigation before the next Italian elections, but we can always do so afterwards, if Parliament considers it appropriate, of course.

  Csaba Sándor Tabajdi (PSE). – (HU) Several European Union Member States have recently been hit by severe flooding. Thousands of people in the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary and Austria are fighting heroically against the floods which threaten their homes, possessions and farms. There were over 100 larger floods in Europe between 1998 and 2004. The floods we experienced last year and this year have confirmed the necessity of joint action at European level. In January 2006, the European Commission proposed a directive for flood management in Europe. The aim of the directive is to mitigate the risks and effects of floods, and to boost joint action. It is a European priority to adopt the directive as soon as possible, and to act jointly to protect ourselves from floods. I ask President Borrell and urge the Council to take steps as soon as possible in order to develop a single European flood defence system.

  Kyriacos Triantaphyllides (GUE/NGL). – (EL) Mr President, last week, in Diyarbakir in Turkey, four people lost their lives and approximately 500 more were injured when incidents broke out at the end of a funeral. All the victims were Kurds, while the perpetrators were the special forces of the Turkish police.

A fortnight ago, the Turkish army started an operation to suppress the Kurdish workers' movement, during which another 14 people were killed. Turkey is obviously demonstrating with these actions that it intends to resolve this problem not through democratic process but through violence, with the survival of the fittest. We are therefore aiding and abetting the extermination of a people, while at the same time bringing Turkey into the European family.

Such a policy is paradoxical and we should remind Turkey, as a candidate country, of what European democratic tradition means.

  Glyn Ford (PSE). – Mr President, I want to raise the case of a company in my constituency. Hygrade – a subsidiary of the Danish company Tulip – is proposing to close two factories in Chard and Chippenham with the loss of 300 and 500 jobs respectively. This will devastate those two market towns. At the moment they are going through a consultation on the proposed closures, which is frankly farcical. Already residents in new neighbouring housing in Chippenham have guarantees in their mortgages that the company will close. In Chard, it is already planning to remove equipment. I hope you will raise that point with the Commission.

At the same time, this is a company that is not facing bankruptcy but is making massive profits. In the negotiations, it is offering people who have been loyal to it for as long as 22 years the minimum redundancy payment available.

It supplies its goods and services mainly to the Co-op and Tesco – they are food processing companies. I hope that people will put pressure on those companies, which talk very often about fair trade, to ensure that the workers at the factories that supply them get a fair deal.

  President. It is possible that the case that you have mentioned could be taken into account in the application of the Globalisation Adjustment Fund, which the Commission has proposed and which will be included in the future budgets. Let us hope that it can be taken into account when these resources are applied.

  Marios Matsakis (ALDE). – Mr President, freedom of expression and peaceful demonstration is a fundamental part of the acquis. Unfortunately, in a large area bordering my home town of Limassol, this freedom of expression is not permitted, because the acquis is not applicable there. That area has been under British military occupation since colonial times, and although it is part of Cyprus and is inhabited by Cypriot civilians, Britain made sure that it was left outside the EU. Therefore the European acquis does not apply there.

Last Saturday – Freedom Day for Cyprus – a Cypriot civilian attempted a peaceful demonstration against the presence of British bases in Cyprus. He did not disturb anybody and did not trespass onto military property. Within minutes he was attacked by British soldiers pointing submachine guns at him and threatening to shoot him. He was detained on a public road against his will at gunpoint until military police and the local press arrived. He was released when it was realised that he was a Member of Parliament – this Parliament! How long will this House tolerate having British troops occupying part of another Member State and subjecting its citizens to such harassment?

  Eoin Ryan (UEN). – Mr President, I should like to mention the decision taken late last week by the British Government to sell the British Nuclear Group and put it into private ownership. This would mean that the Sellafield nuclear facility would end up in private ownership. Considering that 80% of all British nuclear waste is held in Sellafield and that it can process 5000 tonnes of waste per year – about one third of the world’s waste – and considering the serious questions about safety at this plant for many years and the number of accidents that have taken place, I would like to know what guarantees the British Government can give concerned parties and the people of Ireland that the highest safety standards will be met while this plant is being operated in private hands.

One could argue that it could not get any worse and it should go into private hands. However, it is only right that the British Government should give categoric assurances that the highest possible safety standards will be met, because this issue is of huge concern to the people of Ireland and to many others.

  President. Mr Ryan, I understand your concern fully and I am sure that the British Government will be sensitive to the issue that you are raising.

  Eluned Morgan (PSE). – Mr President, I am sorry I was not here earlier: it was Air France’s fault. I would just like to mention that Air France has cancelled flights from London.

I want to raise the issue of the 84 Lisbon directives that have been approved by Parliament. Seventy-six of them should have been enforced by now and fully implemented, but only 13 of those 84 Lisbon directives have been fully implemented by all Member States. The directive on the common regulatory framework for electronic communications should have been fully implemented by 24 July 2003, but Belgium, Greece and Luxembourg have yet to notify the Commission of their implementation.

The Lisbon Strategy is in jeopardy through such lax behaviour by Member States. However, I am encouraged to see that the Commission will open 50 cases against Member States that fail to implement the liberalisation of the energy markets. It is about time we saw that happening.

  President. We have come to the end of the Members listed, but I thought I saw Mrs Hennicot-Schoepges timidly raising her hand. I did not wish to deny you the floor, Mrs Hennicot-Schoepges.

  Erna Hennicot-Schoepges (PPE-DE). – (FR) Mr President, I agree with my two fellow Members, who complained about the fact that Members’ questions are not answered in time. I believe that you are the guardian of our Rules of Procedure and I would ask that you make sure that the Commission responds to our questions in a timely fashion.

The matter to which I am referring is that of Luxembourg’s cable distributors, who applied to the Commission in March 2005 and were sent from one Commissioner to another Commissioner who, in September 2005, gave them an answer that contradicted the one given in response to my parliamentary question three months too late.

Mr President, if we want to legislate more effectively, then the Commission’s legal services need to function accordingly, and you need to ensure that our Rules of Procedure are applied in full.

  Bogusław Rogalski (NI). – (PL) A fortnight ago we saw the end of the bizarre Belarus elections, naturally won by Alexander Lukashenko. These elections were rigged by the use of force, of the Belarusian KGB, the police and the army.

Mr President, what was the European Union’s and Parliament’s response to this situation? Many observers were arrested, as well as journalists and a Polish Member of Parliament. Some of them remain in prison to this day.

Whereas we have been concerning ourselves with elections in Liberia and various elections in exotic states, we did not even send an effective delegation of observers to Belarus. The European Parliament and the European Union must take up a very firm and decisive position on Belarus, so that we can finally overthrow the last bloody dictatorship in Europe.

  Zdzisław Zbigniew Podkański (UEN). – (PL) In Poland there is growing dissatisfaction with the European Union’s agricultural policy. The feelings of Polish farmers are well illustrated by their protest banners: ‘the Union means bankruptcy for the Polish countryside’.

The farmers’ demands include renegotiation of the Accession Treaty, initiation of protection procedures in the soft fruit and vegetable markets and in the apple market, suspension of sugar market liberalisation and the release of the milk restructuring quota of 416 000 tonnes.

Poland has been allocated a quota of 9.3 million tonnes of milk, whereas it needs approximately 12.5 million tonnes. This has already led to farmers being charged an overproduction penalty, and as from 2010 will result in Poland having to import milk and milk products. In this way, Poland is gradually losing its food security. Europe too is losing its food security. We need to ask ourselves a fundamental question: what are we aiming at?

  President. We have reached the end of the speeches. As you can see, the Presidency is trying hard to ensure that all of you can speak and nobody is left unable to do so. That delays the debates. I would apologise to the Commission for making it wait longer than expected.