Seanad debates

Wednesday, 12 February 2003

Fischler Proposals for Agriculture: Motion.

 

This is where the other mass of people short-changed by the CAP comes in, namely, those in the developing world. The negative effect for them of the CAP and the European trade policy that springs from it is much greater than for Europeans. On the one hand, we keep their produce out of our market, by and large, while on the other, we undermine prices for them elsewhere in the world by flooding markets with our surpluses and selling them at uneconomic prices. Meanwhile, we beat our breasts about the need to help the developing world as long as that help is delivered in the most suitable way, usually in the form of cash or loans. We give to them with one hand while, with the other, prevent them from trading with the only commodities they have, namely, the goods they produce. If we traded fairly, we could keep all our trade and the developing world would still be better off.

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