News Release
Franz Fischler
No 100/04
June 15, 2004
WTO FARM TALKS: “BREAKTHROUGH POSSIBLE IF OTHERS MATCH EU,” SAYS EU FARM COMMISSIONER
FRANZ FISCHLER
Speaking at the news conference in Winnipeg, Canada, today, EU
Agriculture Commissioner
Franz Fischler struck an upbeat note regarding the ongoing
WTO farm trade liberalization negotiations. “I think a breakthrough is possible
in July and the EU is ready to do its part to make it happen. The EU has put its
export subsides on the table. We are offering that at the end of a transition
period, the legal basis and the budget for EU export subsidies will be gone. We
expect the US to do exactly the same for their export credits or the Canadians
to do exactly the same with their Canadian Wheat Board. Export monopolies, subsidies,
state guarantees or long redemption periods unfairly promote exports, depress
prices and hence harm developing countries. So let’s do away with them as well!
Fudging the issue, playing hide and seek with academic discussions, is no longer
good enough,” he said.
Commissioner Fischler added that, while Canada was telling the world that
they are ready to address the subsidy elements of their Wheat Board, “They say
they are not willing to completely dismantle their export support tools. The Americans
say the same about their export credits. This is hard to understand. Without export
subsidies, or export credits, what point is there to keep the government guarantee
for losses or the export monopoly status? The market offers exactly the same conditions
for exports for our exporters and others. How can we credibly claim that export
subsidies are the most trade distorting form of subsidies, while measures that
have an equivalent effect are not? The ball is now in the court of the US , Canada
or Australia . The burden of proof is on them, they have now to show the color
of their money, ” he stressed.
Commissioner Fischler further explained that the EU last year decided the
biggest agricultural
reform in the EU’s history, creating a system that is more trade-friendly,
gives EU taxpayers and consumers better value for money and gears EU production
to market demands instead of subsidy incentives. Subsidies are no longer linked
to production but to strict environmental, food safety and animal welfare standards.
“Our reforms have led to a reduction of trade-distorting farm support in the EU
of a whopping 70%. And in 2013 we will have slashed the amount spent on EU farm
support by half in terms of GDP. The EU is currently spending less than 1% of
its total public expenditure on farm support. In fact, its share of the EU’s GDP
has fallen around three times faster than the share of all other public spending
over the last decade. And that is not the end of the road. We continue our reforms.
"EU ministers have just taken a decision to overhaul the EU support
for
cotton, tobacco and olive oil radically. And next month, I will [bring to
the] table a proposal [on] how to make the EU’s
sugar regime more market-oriented and trade-friendly.
"I hope that the US and other rich countries will follow the European
example and reform its farm bill to make it less trade-distorting and more market-oriented,”
he concluded.
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202-862-9523
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Maeve O'Beirne
202-862-9549
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