mr president the commission welcomes this report and thanks the rapporteur mr papastamkos and the members of both committees the committee on agriculture and rural development and the committee on international trade for their efforts in addressing a complex topic in a comprehensive fashion
a number of recommendations in this report echo the political vision and priorities pursued by the commission as extensively outlined in a number of communications
i have to admit that trade liberalisation raises significant challenges for eu agriculture and for the european commission too
however as parliament has also recognised there are a number of negotiations on international trade that present opportunities for our agriculture
we also need to look at the wider benefits for the european economy as a whole that are potentially deliverable by the opening up of trade
overall it is important to maintain a coherent message
we need this message at the range of ongoing talks to which we are committed whether on doha with a number of asean and african partners or with the mercosur countries
it would therefore be wrong to simply portray increased trade openness as a mere lose-lose scenario for eu agriculture
as we have significant offensive interests in agriculture trade agreements provide new opportunities stemming from our partners concessions
this is backed by hard facts
preliminary figures for twenty ten show the eu to be a net exporter of agri-food products with over eur ninety billion worth of agri-food exports and a trade surplus of more than eur six billion
that trend can be explained by the strategic focusing of the eu agri-food sector on the delivery of high quality as has been mentioned and high value products for which world demand is evidently growing
thanks to its unique and diverse know-how the eu agri-food sector has a strong card to play on the global marketplace
i agree that we have to invest in that card
in that context consistent market orientation of the reforms of the cap over the last two decades has helped enhance the competitiveness of the agriculture sector by encouraging farmers to adapt to market solutions
at the same time however the diversity of agriculture in the eu's twenty-seven member states should be fully appreciated
if the eu is to secure the long-term future of its agricultural areas in a territorially and environmentally balanced fashion we have to respect that
we have to understand also that particularly sensitive sectors cannot be expected to sustain an excessive level of additional imports that would put further pressure on average domestic prices and production
the very challenge when negotiating multilateral or bilateral trade agreements that impact on eu agriculture is therefore to strike the right balance between our offensive and our defensive interests in agriculture as well as between agriculture and other areas of our trade negotiations
the commission is very conscious of this and will continue to pursue that goal in close cooperation with parliament
therefore i would like parliament to help us in getting the balance right and in sending the right signal to the rest of the world
