§ Mr. Teddy TaylorTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why the Council of Ministers agreed to a 12.5 per cent. increase in the aid to producers of durum wheat to coincide with the 5.2 per cent. reduction in the intervention price; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonThe EC Commission's proposal on durum wheat, to which 11 Member states have provisionally agreed as part of the price-fixing package, is in line with the Commission's continuing policy of gradually reducing the durum wheat intervention price to reach a relationship of 120 per cent. with the common wheat intervention price by 1992–93. Durum wheat is a surplus product. However, durum production is important in certain less-favoured regions" in southern Europe where it is the only option for large numbers of farmers. The increase in the production aid per hectare, which is paid only in these less-favoured regions is intended by the Commission to cushion the impact of the intervention price reduction on these farmers' incomes. We have 241W consistently argued that this aid is not an appropriate measure for dealing with what is largely a social and structual problem.