mr president i am happy to see a report on helping agriculture in the outermost regions of europe
there is no doubt that geographical location distance from markets and other such factors create many difficulties
the economic crisis has also had an impact
price volatility has been very significant and had a detrimental and indeed destabilising effect on farming not only in the outermost regions but in all areas of europe
however i just want to address one very particular point to the commission today and that is that the commission must be careful in its own actions not to disadvantage the european farmer and the european agricultural industry
in northern ireland the dairy and beef industry has been greatly affected by imports
this has resulted in price volatility and great financial losses for farmers
last week i attended the royal agricultural show in northern ireland
this is the largest show of its kind in the province and farmer after farmer expressed very grave concerns at the attitude of the commission in reopening the mercosur trade talks
surely the commission and we in this parliament must be very careful not to sacrifice europe's industry in order to have so-called gains in other areas
