Various forms of co-operation in agricultural production

Recommendation 636 (1971)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 27 January 1971 (28th Sitting) (see Doc. 2887, report of the Committee on Agriculture). Text adopted by the Assembly on 27 January 1971 (28th Sitting).

The Assembly,

1. Noting the report by the Committee on Agriculture on various forms of co-operation in agricultural production (Doc. 2887) ;

2. Considering that voluntary co-operation between farmers at the production level may improve farmers' working conditions, increase their incomes, help to rationalise and modernise farms, and thus contribute to an improvement in agrarian structures ;

3. Considering that the various forms of co-operation in agriculture are calculated to encourage the rational planning of production and professional training of farmers, and to facilitate the integration of agriculture into modern society ;

4. Considering, however, that most forms of co-operation practised in Europe still encounter legal or fiscal obstacles which need to be eliminated ;

5. Considering that there exists no form of co-operation applicable in all places and circumstances, that the type of cooperation may in fact vary according to regions and objectives, but that the model articles of association (statuts types), drawn up by the French administration after the creation of the GAEC (Groupements Agricoles d'Exploitation en Commun - collective farming communities) seem the most adaptable to a wide variety of situations,

6. Recommends that the Committee of Ministers invite the governments of member States :

a to adopt legislation to facilitate and promote the various forms of co-operation in agriculture at the production stage ;

b to be inspired, when devising new legal structures, by the most advanced laws that have proved their worth in Europe in this field, such as the French legislation on the GAEC (Groupements Agricoles d'Exploitation en Commun) ;

c to grant farming associations fiscal benefits similar to those available to individual farmers ;

d to encourage farmers to form cooperative farming communities, by making initial public grants and, for that purpose, to follow the draft Directive of the Commission of the European Communities on farm modernisation, which provides specifically for initial grants to mutual aid associations ;

e to encourage university research on the legal forms most suited to the requirements of effective co-operation between farmers ;

f to develop general and permanent education for farmers, and to make their economic and technical training more general by keeping them also informed of the opportunities available through the various forms of co-operation practised in Europe at the production stage.