Agricultural policies in Europe
Recommendation 411
(1965)
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 27th January 1965 (20th and 21st Sittings) (see Doc. 1878, report of the Committee on Agriculture). Text adopted by the Assembly on 28th January 1965 (22nd Sitting).
The Assembly,
2. Stressing that the inadequacy of overall measures to deal with the problems of the agricultural economy remains a major stumbling-block in the way of freer international trade generally, and of European economic integration particularly;
3. Being aware of Europe's special responsibilities towards the developing countries of the world and welcoming the endeavours of FAO to establish a world indicative plan for food and agriculture which on the one hand should assess in what direction the world agricultural economy is heading, and on the other show up the need for adjustments;
4. Reaffirming its appreciation of OECD's agricultural policy confrontations, the latest result of which was the Report on Low Incomes in Agriculture emphasising the need :
a to take general measures to raise the low incomes found in all occupational groups and, in particular, in certain cases where they give rise to under-nourishment;
b to perfect the structures of agricultural production and trade as a means of improving the average level of income for farmers ;
5. Recognising that the great differences in economic viability as between individual farming units prevailing in Western Europe and as between different countries are reflected in considerable and increasing disparities in the development of farming incomes and that general price support policies have not been successful in avoiding some aggravation of this state of affairs;
6. Being aware of the tendency of European agricultural production to increase faster than domestic demand, and thus to create difficulties as regards both the efforts to improve farm incomes and to maintain international trade in agricultural products;
7. Noting that European agriculture in consequence of the development of modern techniques is going through a period of rapid conversion and adaptation, and that, in the absence of positive measures to rationalise agricultural structures and to promote specialisation, these changes may have uneconomic effects and result in an unfair distribution of benefits and opportunities;
8. Believing, therefore, that the time is due for a far-reaching revision of agricultural policies with a view to making the agricultural community a self-supporting and viable part of the general economy for the mutual benefit of all its sectors, bearing in mind the need to give appropriate consideration to the human and social implications of such adjustment,
9. Recommends the Committee of Ministers to invite member Governments :
a to promote a vigorous and judicious policy for the improvement of agrarian structures with a view to ensuring optimum utilisation of resources and to increasing the profit-making capacity of the family farm, wherever this type constitutes the most appropriate form of farming ;
b to take measures to improve the economic conditions for farming in substandard areas ;
c to take into account in the planning of regional development the need for the creation of alternative or additional employment for agricultural population unable to derive an adequate income from farming under reasonable working conditions ;
d to take steps designed to facilitate the development of a more balanced age structure in the agricultural community, notably by the establishment of adequate pension schemes for elderly farmers;
e to encourage the setting up - if necessary on a regional basis and in cooperation with the farmers' organisations - of the necessary machinery to keep farmers better informed of the prospects and requirements of modern agriculture in an expanding economy, thus creating a more favourable climate for rationalisation of farming, and eliminating the psychological obstacles hindering cooperation and mutual assistance among farmers;
f to follow up and improve forecasts as regards agricultural incomes, employment and investments, as well as production and demand for agricultural commodities in Europe and to relate these latter forecasts to conditions in other areas not least in the overseas developing countries ;
g to seek to negotiate, within the framework of the Kennedy round, a co-ordination of agricultural policies so as to create acceptable conditions of access to world markets for agricultural products in furtherance of a significant development and expansion of world trade in such products.
