B4-0414, 0457 and 0474/95

Resolution on the drought in southern Europe

The European Parliament,

A.whereas the serious cyclical drought of a structural nature from which Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal have been suffering for several years is seriously jeopardizing the survival of agriculture, stockfarming and the processing industries for these sectors,

B.whereas the huge losses caused by the drought are resulting in a substantial fall in the level of farm incomes,

C.whereas in Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal millions of hectares of crops on irrigated and unirrigated land have been affected by the rainfall shortage,

D.whereas the drought is causing irreparable and unavoidable damage to Spanish agriculture and stockfarming and whereas the processing industry is in difficulties with regard to supplies of specific raw materials at competitive prices,

E.whereas contacts between the Commission and the competent authorities have allowed a preliminary assessment of the problems arising from the drought and its effects on the application of the CAP to be made in situ,

F.whereas in the past (in the case of Portugal, Council Regulations (EEC) No. 3311/92 and (EC) No. 787/94 on special measures to assist farmers affected by the drought) Community measures have been adopted to deal with this problem,

1.Calls for the drought in Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal to be declared 'structural' in order to enable amendments to Community legislation with a view to maintaining the incomes of farmers and stockbreeders;

2.Calls for the base area for the purposes of Community compensatory payments to be reviewed, both for irrigated and unirrigated land, with a view to an increase in total payments;

3.Proposes adoption by the Commission and the Council of urgent measures with a view to remedying as far as possible the near-disaster affecting the agricultural sector;

4.Proposes the drafting of a joint plan by the Commission and the Member States affected with a view to the rational exploitation of water resources and the modernization of supply networks and irrigation systems in order to optimize the utilization of those resources including measures of an environmental nature aimed at saving the water used in irrigation;

5.Calls on the Commission and the Member States to reach joint agreement to endow the exceptional measures with adequate funding to guarantee their effectiveness;

6.Calls on the Community institutions to consider drought as a special situation which can have extremely adverse repercussions on the development of certain areas of the European Union, and that it is ceasing to be a transitory, cyclical situation and is well on the way to becoming structural;

7.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, Commission and Committee of the Regions and the governments of the Member States.