Euro-Mediterranean Partnership

Mediterranean farmers take the initiative

Brussels, 4 December 2003 – The Mediterranean Farmers Committee of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) do not wish to see agriculture overlooked in the maze of the Barcelona Process and insisted on meeting on 3 and 4 December in Brussels in order to demand a key role for agriculture and farmers in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. “There is a glaring absence of a comprehensive, integrated approach to agriculture in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership,” said Guy Giva, Vice-Chairman of the Mediterranean Committee, who firmly believes that in order to create a zone of Mediterranean prosperity by 2010 it is essential to take into account the agricultural sector, the cornerstone of any development policy. “At a time when the focus is more on agricultural competition between the two shores of the Mediterranean Basin, we are convinced that the search for complementarity between agricultural productions on both sides of the Basin is a much more promising approach.”

Representatives of Mediterranean farmers will meet with key stakeholders and political decision-makers from European bodies to point out the priorities of farmers in the Mediterranean Basin. The farmers are showing that genuine solidarity exists between farmers from both shores of the Basin and that agriculture plays a crucial role. They will explain that the development of complementarity in the agricultural sector must also rely on the identification of the specific nature of Mediterranean products, the adaptation of production schedules, the development of transportation and logistical infrastructure, the development of north-south cooperation, and the implementation of reciprocal trade agreements between both shores of the Basin. Farmers’ interests must be at the forefront in the development of these programs. The establishment of a prosperous Mediterranean free-trade zone that benefits all partners depends on the realization of these conditions.

To ensure that farmers are key players, associated and funding measures, including the MEDA Programme, must place greater emphasis on agriculture. These measures must include projects to bolster the ability of farmers and their organizations to participate actively in their own development. “If MEDA is truly a financial mecanism intended to help economies in the southern countries catch up to those in the northern countries, it must focus more broadly on agricultural productions,” stressed Abdelbaki Bacha, Vice-Chairman of the IFAP Mediterranean Committee.

The Mediterranean Committee pays tribute to the initiative of the Italian President of the European Union that made it possible to hold the Euro-Mediterranean Conference on Agriculture on 27 November 2003 in Venice, “thus giving a new impetus to the Barcelona Process,” as Francesco Serra Carraciolo, Vice-Chairman of the Mediterranean Committee emphasized, at a time when Europe is more concerned with the eastward expansion of its membership.