Rehabilitation of the agro-food sector in former Yugoslavia
Doc. 7549
9 May 1996
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
presented by Mr SEILER and others
This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it
1. At the beginning of 1996, between 2.5 and 3 million people in former Yugoslavia were in need of food aid.
2. If peaceful conditions persist, hundreds of thousands of people displaced within Bosnia or under temporary refugee status abroad are expected to resettle in their homes or repatriate back to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
3. The situation of the 180,000 people who live in Eastern Slavonia remains unresolved, and the 380,000 refugees and displaced persons in Croatia (excluding Eastern Slavonia) will continue to need some aid, as will a large number of the more than 600,000 refugees living in Serbia and Montenegro.
4. A considerable number of the refugees and displaced persons are peasants and their families who have left their farms - often in ruins.
5. In war-affected areas, the fields have often been planted with mines which will need to be removed before they can be recultivated or used as pasture land.
6. The livestock in these areas has suffered serious depletion or even been totally destroyed. Re-establishing it will take years.
7. The consequences for certain field-crop production or fruit production could also take decades to repair.
8. The food industry has suffered equally, some production has been totally closed down, whereas in other cases production equipment has been damaged and buildings destroyed.
9. A huge effort is needed to return to a situation of self-sufficiency in food.
10. The rehabilitation of agriculture and the food industry needs support and assistance.
11. The first donors' meeting, in December 1995, established the cost of priority reconstruction at 4.5 billion Ecus for 1996-99. The breakdown would be roughly on a basis of one-third from the United States of America, one-third from the European Union, with the rest of the world providing the remaining one-third.
12. The Assembly's close involvement in the work to re-establish peace in the countries of former Yugoslavia and its hope of seeing these countries develop democratic rule and future co-operation motivates its desire to make a contribution to the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts.
13. Consequently, the Assembly will analyse the agro-food situation in the countries of the former Yugoslavia with a view to putting forward proposals to member governments, the European Union and governments having observer status with the Council of Europe for priority assistance for the rehabilitation of the agro-food sector in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. The Assembly would in particular like to associate young people and relevant youth organisations with this work.
Signed[1]:
Seiler, Switzerland, LDR
Szak�l, Hungary, EDG
Telgmaa, Estonia, EDG
Connolly, Ireland, LDR
Figel, Slovakia, PPE
Anttila, Finland, LDR
Fenner, United Kingdom, EDG
I.B. Johansson, Sweden, SOC
Mackie of Benshie, United Kingdom, LDR
Scheer, Germany, SOC
[1] SOC : Socialist Group
EPP : Group of the European People's Party
EDG : European Democratic Group
LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers Group
UEL : Group of the Unified European Left