Thousands of sugar beet farmers protest reforms outside EU meeting
More than 50 Irish farmers joined in the “shout for sugar” protest together with their huge three-metre tall replica of a white sugar beet.
Agriculture Minister Mary Coughlan rejected the proposals which the commission and the farmers say will severely affect and possibly wipe out the Irish sugar industry.
There are an estimated 3,700 Irish farmers in sugar but their production price is well above the €25 a ton proposed in the reforms.
Chairperson of the IFA’s Sugar Beet committee, Jim O’Regan said the proposed price was not viable and unlike previous agriculture reforms it would wipe out an entire industry in certain regions of Europe.
“In Ireland sugar is a family-farm business, not ranchers. The cuts will affect ordinary families and their livelihoods,” he said.
He admitted that the Agriculture Commissioner Marian Fisher Boel seemed very determined to force through the proposals that will see a 40% cut in sugar prices over two years from 2006 and give farmers compensation of just 60%.
Companies like Greencore, that owns the country’s only remaining sugar plant in Mallow, are to receive funds to set up alternative industries.
The IFA estimates this would be worth €145 million to Greencore.
“This would be totally unfair when there is nothing to compensate the farmers who have spent huge sums on highly specialised machinery,” he said.
Ms Coughlan was not alone at yesterday’s meeting which was the first to discuss the commission’s reforms. She was supported by Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Estonia and
Finland.
After the meeting Ms Coughlan said she had made her case forcefully and the battle will continue when agriculture ministers meet next in September.
“This is the first time in the history of the CAP that the severity of the price cut being proposed will result, on the commission’s own analysis, in a drastic reduction in production for four member states and a significant reduction in another nine. This proposal represents a new departure where competitiveness is the only criteria,” she said.
Ms Coughlan said the reforms should be based on a longer lead-in time and she believed it would be better to wait for the outcome of the WTO meeting in Hong Kong before doing further work on the proposals.
Britain, Denmark and Sweden are firmly behind the reforms aimed at cutting the €1.7 billion a year in sugar subsidies.
The EU is being forced to reduce the sugar subsidies after the WTO ruled them illegal last April following a case brought by the world’s largest producers, Brazil, Thailand and Australia.
Countries from Africa and the Caribbean who will also be affected by the proposals joined in the protest.
