Mr. Tassos Haniotis:

I will start with the last question and then ask my colleague, Mr. Bascou to answer the first question.

When I talk about price levels, I am generally referring to what is happening with average prices across the EU. It is clear that there are differences among member states and that transport costs and other factors also play a role in price levels. The other issue that is important has been referred to by the Deputy, namely, the fact that we do not know exactly how climate change is going to affect the production capacity of the European Union. With our colleagues in the Joint Research Centre in both Seville in Spain and Ispra in Italy, we are trying to understand what agro-meteorological models are telling us about the potential impact of climate change in the short-term on various parts of the EU. We have seen that one of the characteristics of climate change is that diseases - of both plants and animals - tend to spread much faster and the research capability to deal with them is lagging behind. This is why we have decided to put more money into targeted agricultural research. This is an area that will be given priority under the new agricultural research programmes. The Deputy has raised an issue about which we have more questions than answers right now. However, we will try to address it as soon as possible.

Mr. Bascou will now respond to the first question.