John Stuart Agnew, on behalf of the EFD Group. – Mr President, the term ‘implementing act’ is enough to send the layman fast asleep. If I shouted out ‘Commission power grab’, he might wake up. The Lisbon Treaty was another remorseless shift in the removal of democracy; it is little surprise to me that the Commission is pushing things to the limit and it is clear why the EU was so desperate to avoid referendums on this subject.

Here tonight, we are completing the tidying-up exercise of taking a handful of issues that were still being discussed under the old pre-Lisbon regime. One of these is organic farming. This must be one of the most pampered industries in the entire world. There are generous grants to convert into it; organic farmers have exclusive access to generously paying environmental schemes; and they are, I understand, exempt from the inconvenience of the greening measures that other farmers must endure. Despite this, the end product is still more expensive to the consumer.

Today is 3 July, and a feed compounder in Britain today is having to pay GBP 200 to have a tonne of wheat delivered to his mill. This fact alone should concentrate the minds of political leaders into removing obstructions for real farmers, rather than playing around with implementing acts and organic farming.