mr president first of all i welcome the opportunity to have this debate
i think it is very timely and the recent crisis in the dairy sector which crippled so many of our farmers across the european union certainly demonstrated the serious volatility which can affect our agriculture markets
significant price fluctuations are occurring from year to year and indeed from month to month and are often due to factors beyond our control such as the global financial crisis and indeed the price of oil
the effects of the dramatic drop in the price of milk in two thousand and nine were compounded by the eu's inability to react swiftly enough to the situation
while we were eventually able to implement a mixture of market management and income support measures such as intervention in the milk fund and export refunds which eased the pain to a degree many dairy farmers ended up going out of business and many are suffering serious financial loss
in my opinion we need to adopt a two-fold approach in order to attempt to mitigate the effects of depressed prices on our farmers
firstly we need to agree upon a set minimum safety net for all sectors which are vulnerable to price fluctuations
secondly we need to ensure that whatever tools we introduce we are able to respond rapidly and effectively to whatever crisis presents itself
there is a lot of discussion at the moment in parliament and beyond about farmers receiving a fair and stable income for what they produce
the ins and outs of food supply and the food supply chain in general is a topic which is relevant to both farmers and consumers alike
the imminent reform of the cap gives us a real opportunity to address these issues
of course it is important not to undermine the competitiveness of europe's agri-food industry
however a reformed cap must be able to respond to various crises in agriculture in order to stabilise the markets and ensure a fair income for our farmers
