WTO farm talks - 'Breakthrough possible if others match EU'

FR - DE

Speaking at the news conference in Winnipeg, Canada today, EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler struck an upbeat note regarding the ongoing WTO farm trade liberalisation 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 colour 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 radically overhaul the EU support for cotton, tobacco and olive oil. And next month, I will table a proposal 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.

More information on the WTO and agriculture at:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/external/wto/index_en.htm

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