Doc. 8356

22 March 1999

Need for increased economic co-operation in the Mediterranean Region

Opinion

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

Rapporteur: Mr Fernando Gonzalez Laxe, Spain, Socialist Group

1The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development welcomes this move to examine the state of co-operation in the Mediterranean Region. As is recalled moreover in the report of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development, the Assembly has concerned itself for many years with the political situation in the region, particularly as regards the various conflicts that arise there. These conflicts not only imperil the populations and the future of the countries affected, but are also a threat to peace throughout the region and a hazard for Europe itself.

2       However, only quite recently did the Assembly begin looking into the economic situation in this part of the world. This course could no doubt be usefully continued, since only sustained and sustainable economic development will permit the Mediterranean Region to become a stable economic pole capable of guaranteeing the riparian countries prosperity. However, the attainment of such a goal clearly necessitates intensified co-operation, whatever its nature. Only by establishing ties and eliminating sources of conflict and mutual distrust will the Mediterranean countries succeed in making progress. In the present circumstances, progress can no longer be achieved individually but only within large regional entities so as to attain the critical dimensions needed for adequate economic development. The Mediterranean Basin should form one such entity.

3.       Besides the political commitment of the Assembly in the region, efforts in the same constructive spirit have been made nearer the ground by two other Assembly committees which several years ago initiated more specific co-operation work in their own remit. One is the Committee on Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities which since 1985, in conjunction with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE) has organised conferences of Mediterranean regions, the 5th of which was lately held in Marmaris from 25 to 27 February 1999.

4.       The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development has also dealt with the Mediterranean Basin since the 1980s. Resolution 792 (1983) on Mediterranean agriculture: problems and prospects, can be mentioned in this connection. More recently the Assembly has adopted various recommendations proposed by this committee, such as Recommendation 1200 (1992) on the future of the Mediterranean forest, Resolution 1051 (1994) on food and agricultural development in the Mediterranean basin, and Resolution 1090 (1996) on the problem of desertification in the Mediterranean basin.

5.       Furthermore, aware of the difficulties confronting Mediterranean agriculture but also realising the similarity of certain problems encountered throughout the Mediterranean Basin (soil erosion, water shortage, etc), the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development has taken the initiative of organising Mediterranean Agriculture Forums, the first of which was held in Antalya (7-8 December 1993), the second in Jerusalem (12-14 December 1994) and the third in Nicosia (26-27 October 1998)1.

6.       This initiative was also inspired by the idea of bringing together and involving in co-operation not only parliamentarians and governmental experts but also farmers themselves through their representative organisations and the research sector. The Forums have accordingly been held with the participation of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP), especially its Mediterranean Committee, and the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (ICAMAS). From the third Forum onwards, participation was extended to parliamentarians of Mediterranean countries not belonging to the Council of Europe.

7.       In this ideal setting for discussion and exchange, the participants have sought chiefly to find points of convergence and arrange for co-operative actions politically supported by the Assembly rather than to discuss purely technical questions. Still, these have not been left out of the discussions but have served as reference points or springboards for practical co-operation initiatives. For instance, the last two Forums considered the situation in the Middle East and Cyprus respectively.

8.       At all events, it is clear that agriculture, though a declining or crisis-stricken sector in most Mediterranean countries, is still an important sector for their economy, society and food supply, especially for those in the southern and eastern Mediterranean Basin. In several of these countries with strong population dynamics, the situation moreover threatens to deteriorate unless speedy and effective measures are taken and a minimum of co-ordination is achieved in economic, and specifically agricultural, policies.

9.       For economic reasons, exportable commodities have too frequently been given preference over production practices geared to food supply, which are more suited to home markets and more apt to meet the needs of the local populations. Economic priorities have at times caused exaggerated bias towards the industrialisation of some of these countries and excessive dependence of their agriculture on export markets and on imported agricultural commodities, while aggravating other problems relating to environment, employment, emigration, etc.

10.       As early as 1983 in Resolution 792, the Assembly invited the member states concerned to enhance their co-operation so as to "have the entire region benefit as much as possible from the comparative advantages" and solve common problems through co-ordinated measures (irrigation, reforestation, suitable types of production, marketing, restructuring of holdings, innovation, etc.). These proposals were reiterated and amplified in the 1990s as part of the follow-up to the Mediterranean Agriculture Forums. For instance, Resolution 1051 (1994) noted persistent major disparities between the Mediterranean countries and proposed that "Europe must, in its own interest and in that of the Mediterranean countries in difficulty, operate the principle of solidarity." The Assembly further invited the governments of member states to act "by fostering economic and technical co-operation between the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean", in particular through moves "to encourage the setting up and development of intergovernmental bodies such as the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (ICAMAS) and organisations fostering co-operation between agricultural producers, such as the Mediterranean Committee of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP)".

11.       This desire for co-operation responds, for instance, to the discovery that the Mediterranean countries are competing with each other in the production and export of agricultural commodities and foodstuffs, a situation compounded by difficulties in entering external markets and acceding to the principles that govern them (Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, WTO Rules, etc)2. Only through better co-ordination of their economic and development policies, particularly in respect of agriculture, and through financial and technological transfers, will the Mediterranean countries be able to find solutions (diversification and complementarity of production options, restructuring of the agricultural sector, rural development, agricultural training) that will ensure the development and economic viability of their agriculture.

12.       This need for co-operation extended to the Mediterranean agricultural organisations (IFAP, ICAMAS) is restated in Resolution 1090 (1996), in which the Assembly is concerned over desertification in the Mediterranean Basin, deterioration and disappearance of farmland, food security and sustainable economic (agricultural) development in the region. It especially encourages the application of rational land and water management, training and research. Nonetheless, above all in the southern countries of the Basin, this reduction of arable land, together with high population growth and draining of natural resources, is liable to imperil their agricultural potential and self-sufficiency in food production.

13.       The above issues were also addressed at the Mediterranean Agriculture Forums organised by the committee. The first Forum (Antalya, 1993) dealt with the future of food production policies in the Mediterranean region. It concluded that agriculture was central to many of the challenges facing communities living in the Mediterranean Basin (demography, food supply, water, erosion, rural depopulation, etc.). Some of these problems could be curbed by sustainable agricultural policies framed in consultation with the agricultural organisations. Among its proposals to the governments of the Mediterranean countries, the Forum called upon them to promote more intensive regional concerted action, to make rural and agricultural development feature prominently in policies, and to diversify food and non-food production.

14.       At the second Forum (Jerusalem, 1994), the main theme was combating desertification. This is the outcome of population pressure and over-exploitation of natural resources. The measures under discussion included new irrigation systems, use of biotechnology and new soil regeneration technologies. The participants attached great importance to devolution of decision-making authority and to the role of farmers' organisations. Governments were urged to strengthen their co-operation in fields such as research, education and training and to give highest priority to a programme for the introduction of sustainable resource management practices in agriculture and forestry.

15.       The third Forum (Nicosia, 1998) was on the topic of use of water in Mediterranean agriculture. In the light of the acknowledged water shortage in the Mediterranean and the consequences for agriculture, the main consumer of water resources, emphasis was placed on the urgent need for rational and sustainable management of water resources and for the introduction of new agricultural and irrigation methods. The establishment of single national water authorities could also further this aim. Once again, the Forum stressed the need to develop Mediterranean co-operation at the political level, among agricultural organisations and in the research sector.

16.       Attention should be drawn to the growing interest aroused by the Mediterranean Agriculture Forums, which indubitably provide a platform for exchange and pooling of experience between decision-makers and practitioners. As a result, participation by representatives of the Mediterranean countries' parliaments and agricultural organisations alike has gradually embraced nearly the entire Mediterranean Basin. This is one of the few arenas where parliamentarians and farmers can get together and meet government representatives and agronomists. All have commended the Council of Europe for its initiative and stressed the value of continuing these high-level meetings on issues of concern to every country in the basin.

17.       Noteworthy among the agricultural organisations in the Mediterranean Region with which the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development has close links of co-operation are ICAMAS (International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies) and IFAP (International Federation of Agricultural Producers).

18.       ICAMAS is an intergovernmental organisation set up in 1962 under the auspices of the Council of Europe and the OECD to develop Mediterranean co-operation on education and training in the agricultural and agronomic sector. At present it includes most Mediterranean countries (Albania, Algeria, Egypt, Portugal, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey), several of which are Council of Europe members. It has four specialised technical institutes, the Mediterranean Agronomic Institutes in Bari (Italy), Chania (Greece), Montpellier (France) and Zaragoza (Spain).

19.       Its activities are largely organised in conjunction with national institutions of the member countries and with international and regional organisations interested in Mediterranean agriculture, to encourage the creation of a Mediterranean network of agronomic research and training institutions. They relate chiefly to graduate and postgraduate training, research, technical studies and exchange of experts.

20.       IFAP, founded in 1946, is the international organisation representing the national agricultural organisations (85 member organisations in 1998). Its main aim is co-operation between organisations of agricultural producers in order to fulfil the needs of populations in respect of food supply and consumption, and to improve farmers' economic and social status. Apart from a two-yearly General Conference and standing committees, IFAP has several Commodity Groups and Regional Committees, one being the Mediterranean Committee, created in 1991, whose membership includes the agricultural organisations of the Mediterranean countries that belong to IFAP.

21.       The IFAP Mediterranean Committee works for the development of agricultural co-operation around the Mediterranean and advocates establishing regular arrangements for dialogue involving governments, regional organisations and trade organisations. Its aims include co-ordination of agricultural policies, enhancement of Mediterranean production and fuller integration of the agri-food sector.

22.       In conclusion, the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development welcomes the Assembly's timely response to concerns of strategic importance for Mediterranean Europe, and its success in providing answers – even if incomplete - to some of the problems confronting the Mediterranean Basin. This applies in particular to agriculture, with the obvious limitations imposed by the capabilities of the Council of Europe. But these very limitations, and our Organisation's relative detachment from the realities on the ground, place the Council of Europe and especially the Parliamentary Assembly in an excellent position to further international co-operation. This is perhaps truer still in the Mediterranean Region which is henceforth Europe's new frontier.

23.       Unless care is taken - although the action, efforts and political will of the Assembly in this part of the world are proof of growing concern and interest towards the Mediterranean Region - Europe runs the risk of having to face serious crises in this region, which it has the political and moral duty as well as the technical and financial resources to help allay or defuse.

24.       With specific reference to agriculture, considerable progress is still needed to attenuate the structural imbalances of Mediterranean agriculture by improving co-operation and solidarity. This action should focus on the southern countries of the Mediterranean Region where the problems are more acute than in the European countries. They concern employment, with an agricultural working population that is larger, less qualified and lower-paid, structures that require modernisation in the production, processing and marketing sectors, trade, affected by an export-import imbalance especially with the European Union, the main trading partner, and competitive relations among Mediterranean countries. Measures in all these areas must be taken quickly; speed is even more vital as population trends3 and over-use of natural resources are bound to make matters worse.

25.       As it has been doing hitherto, the Parliamentary Assembly (through its Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development) can provide stimulus for commitments and projects, and help alleviate existing agricultural imbalances4 by furthering co-operation among Mediterranean countries. The Mediterranean Agriculture Forums, which have received the explicit support of all participants (parliamentarians, farmers and experts), are a tested method that should be maintained according to the Committee as well as IFAP and ICAMAS. The flexibility and informality of these encounters make for frank, open discussion of controversial subjects.

26.       In the agricultural sector as in others (environment, decentralisation, migration, etc.), it would be highly advantageous for the Parliamentary Assembly, alongside its political action, to pursue and intensify interparliamentary co-operation in the Mediterranean Region, on terms of understanding with the other international organisations actively interested in the region.

*

* *

Committee for report: Commission on Economic Affairs and Development (Doc. 8348)

Committee for opinion: Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

Reference to committee: Doc. 7931 and Reference No. 2323 of 21 September 1998

Opinion approved by the committee on 19 March 1999

Secretary of the committee: Mr Sixto

_____________

Reference documents

- Resolution 792 (1983) on Mediterranean agriculture – problems and prospects and relevant Doc. 5001.

- Recommendation 1200 (1992) on the future of the Mediterranean forest and relevant Doc. 6710.

- Resolution 1051 (1994) on food and agricultural development in the Mediterranean basin and relevant Doc. 7090.

- Resolution 1090 (1996) on the problem of desertification in the Mediterranean Basin and relevant Doc. 7503.

- First Mediterranean Agriculture Forum (Antalya, 7-8 September 1993). Compendium of documents

- Second Mediterranean Agriculture Forum (Jerusalem, 12-14 December 1994). Summary report and compendium of documents

- Third Mediterranean Agriculture Forum (Nicosia, 26-27 October 1998). Summary report and compendium of documents.

Appendix 1

First Mediterranean Agriculture Forum

(Antalya, 7-8 December 1993)

Declaration by the co-Chairmen

Appendix 2

Second Mediterranean Agriculture Forum

(Jerusalem, 12-14 December 1994)

Declaration by the co-Chairmen

Appendix 3

Third Mediterranean Agriculture Forum

(Nicosia, 26-27 October 1998)

Declaration by the co-Chairmen

The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in co-operation with the Mediterranean Committee of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) and the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (ICAMAS), held the 3rd Mediterranean Agricultural Forum in Nicosia, on 26-27 October 1998, at the invitation of the House of Representatives of Cyprus.

The theme of this 3rd Forum was water use in agriculture. The participants discussed the problems and challenges of water shortage in the Mediterranean Basin and its consequences for agriculture, the main consumer of water, particularly in countries where this sector still represents an important part of production, national income and employment.

The Forum examined the situation of water resources in several Mediterranean countries, their use in agriculture, systems of irrigation as well as national legislation on this matter. The participants emphasised the urgent need for a rational and sustainable management of water resources in order to guarantee their renewal and supply without endangering the sectors depending on them.

Such an essential natural resource as water, the exploitation of which reaches a maximum in the Mediterranean countries, must absolutely be preserved considering the foreseeable increasing needs in the near future. The demographic growth around the Mediterranean Basin, feeding the population and the development of agriculture require urgent measures to reduce water wastage and to encourage a more rational consumption and the introduction of new agricultural technologies less dependent on water. The Forum expressed the wish for the setting up in each country of single water authorities which, in co-operation with the World Water Council, could contribute to achieving these objectives.

The Forum also expressed its satisfaction concerning the participation, for the first time, of parliamentarians from most Mediterranean countries, particularly from non-member countries of the Council of Europe, which allowed fruitful exchanges of views with the representatives of agricultural organisations from those countries.

The participants expressed the wish that this Mediterranean co-operation be developed both at political, agricultural organisations’ and research levels as well as between these levels. They encouraged the governments and parliaments of Mediterranean countries, the Council of Europe, the IFAP and the ICAMAS to work towards this aim, particularly as far as the preservation and the management of water resources and international co-operation are concerned. They also wished to develop the training of agricultural managers required to make better use of water resources and to encourage a co-operative approach in this respect.

Finally, they invited the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development of the Parliamentary Assembly, the Mediterranean Committee of the IFAP and the ICAMAS to continue their co-operation in the framework of the Mediterranean Agricultural Fora.

Outside the Forum, the co-chairmen and the Vice-Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Food met informally and held discussions with representatives of the Turkish Cypriot Farmers Union.

Giuseppe AVOLIO       Juhan TELGMAA

Chairman       Chairman

Mediterranean Committee       Sub-Committee on Food

International Federation       Parliamentary Assembly

of Agricultural Producers       Council of Europe

Appendix 4

Extract from the European Commission report

“The Agricultural Situation in the European Union” (1997)

Appendix 5

Extract from the UNFPA5 report

“State of World Population 1998”

 

Total population

(millions)

(1998)

Projected population

(millions)

(2025)

Population/ha

arable land

Northern Mediterranean

      

Albania

3.4

4.3

3.1

Bosnia-Herzegovina

4.0

4.3

0.6

Croatia

4.5

4.2

0.5

France

58.7

60.4

0.1

Greece

10.6

10.1

0.8

Italy

57.2

51.7

0.4

F Y R Macedonia

2.2

2.5

0.6

Malta

0.3

0.4

-

Slovenia

1.9

1.7

0.3

Spain

39.8

37.5

0.2

Yugoslavia

10.4

10.7

0.7

Total

193.0

187.8

  
       

Eastern

Mediterranean

      

Cyprus

0.7

0.9

  

Israel

5.9

8.0

0.5

Jordan

6.0

11.9

1.9

Lebanon

3.2

4.4

0.6

Syria

15.3

26.3

0.9

Turkey

63.8

85.8

1.2

Total

94.9

137.3

  
       

Southern

Mediterranean

      

Algeria

30.2

47.3

0.9

Egypt

65.7

95.8

7.3

Libya

6.0

12.9

0.2

Morocco

28.0

39.9

1.2

Tunisia

9.5

13.5

0.7

Total

139.4

209.4

  

Appendix 6

Macroeconomic Indicators, 1995*

 

TLF1

ALF2

ALF/TLF

AGDP3/GDP

Agr. import. 4

Agr. export4

Spain

16.81

1.46

8.66%

2.6 %

13.537

13.190

France

25.81

1.08

4.17%

1.90%

28.788

40.700

Italy

24.98

1.73

6.94%

2.70%

23.591

14.587

Greece

4.43

0.88

19.81%

7.20%

3.942

3.341

Turkey

27.72

14.10

50.89%

15.88%

3.604

4.301

             

Egypt

22.80

7.49

33.15%

19.87%

3.364

536

Tunisia

3.35

0.79

23.48%

11.85%

1.075

468

Algeria

8.85

2.08

24.05%

12.64%

3.215

108

Morocco

10.30

4.19

40.70%

13.42%

1.825

780

*       Published by the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier (International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies – ICAMAS)

1) Total labour force (millions)

2) Agricultural labour force (millions)

3) Agricultural gross domestic product (millions $)

4) in millions $

1 See Appendices 1 to 3

2 EU trade with Mediterranean countries (see Appendix 4)

3 State of Mediterranean population (See Appendix 5)

4 Macroeconomic agricultural indicators (See Appendix 6)

5 United Nations Population Fund