Agricultural policies in Europe

Recommendation 315 (1962)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 15th, 16th and 17th May 1962 (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Sitting) (see Doc. 1416, Report of the Committee on Agriculture). Text adopted by the Assembly on 17th May 1962 (6th Sitting).

The Assembly,

Welcoming the decisions taken in Brussels on 14th January concerning the implementation of a joint agricultural marketing policy within the territory of six of the member countries as a step towards the achievement of a common agricultural policy ;

Considering that the agricultural decisions of 14th January do not impede the accession of other member countries to the European Communities ;

Considering that the achievement of a real common agricultural policy is closely connected with developments in other sectors of the economy and that this inter-relationship must be maintained ;

Welcoming the efforts made by the competent bodies of the Community to complement the common agricultural market policy by a common trade policy, a coordinated structural policy, and a common social policy in the agricultural sector ;

Attaching great importance to an effective co-ordination of structural policies and considering that further delays in this field would, first, hamper the development towards the common agricultural policy of the Community, secondly, create certain difficulties in the way of a settlement between the Community and other member countries and, finally, restrict trade between Western Europe as a whole and its agricultural trading partners throughout the world,

Recommends that the Committee of Ministers should request member Governments :

1 to ensure that immediate action is taken to secure an effective co-ordination of structural policies in agriculture within all member States, in accordance with the principles laid down by OEEC/OECD, taking into account the possibilities offered by regional industrial development schemes and bearing in mind the necessity of avoiding uneconomical surplus production ;

2 to intensify their efforts with regard to education, information and research -especially market research - in the agricultural field as well as with regard to the retraining of agricultural population which will become redundant if a vigorous structural policy is implemented ;

3 to study actively the establishment of rules for the gradual elimination of certain subsidies and other practices which tend to distort competition, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 93 of the Treaty of Rome and in close co-operation with other member countries within OECD ;

4 to take due account, in the elaboration of the common agricultural policy and in the negotiations for the extension of the European Economic Community, of the interests of those member States which do not take part in the negotiations as well as of the legitimate trade interests of third countries.