Resolution on vegetable protein supplies and the situation in the European starch industry
C 219/510 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30. 7. 1999 Friday 16 April 1999 26. Calls on the social partners at national and European level to work closely with other organisations representing older people in defending their rights in society and in ensuring that they are actively involved in the political process; 27. Calls on NGOs representing older people at regional, national and European level to coordinate their activities and to develop an information network, coordinated by the European Union, on issues and policies affecting older people throughout Europe; Calls on the Commission and the Member States to support the associations representing the 28. interests of older people and to help them promote a realistic and positive image; 29. Requests the Commission to bring forward its Communication on Ageing in the first half of 1999; Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the European 30. social partners, the participants at the Senior Citizens Conference and the United Nations. 3. Starch B4-0353, 0354, 0355, 0360 and 0423/99 Resolution on vegetable protein supplies and the situation in the European starch industry The European Parliament, A. whereas the European Union continues to suffer from a shortfall in the area of vegetable proteins and is dependent on imports from third countries, B. whereas the CAP reforms agreed at the Berlin European Council meeting have created some scope for encouraging non-food agricultural production; whereas, nonetheless, the decisions of the Berlin Summit on oil seeds could have negative consequences regarding the EU deficit in the oil seed sector, C. whereas, in the starch sector, there is a delicate balance between starch produced from potatoes, on the one hand, and from cereals, on the other, 1. Calls on the Commission to maintain the current system of refunds for the use of cereal derivatives (starch) and sugar and to produce a report assessing the impact on the sector of the reform of the CAP; 2. Calls on the Commission to propose a more incentive-based policy for the non-food agricultural production sector, in particular as regards the use of set-aside land for protein seed and protein-rich fodder crops, and emphasises that possible changes in starch regimes must be sectorally balanced and neutral in terms of their budget impact; 3. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the different conditions of production of each non- manufactured agricultural product are taken into consideration, including in particular cereals and potatoes, so as to avoid distortions of competition between those products; 4. Believes that there is an urgent need to define a robust negotiating strategy for the forthcoming round of WTO negotiations; calls for the removal of the restrictions in the oilseed crop sector imposed on the Union by the Blair House agreement; Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the 5. governments of the Member States