Agricultural prices 1997/1998: aid for seeds for 1998/1999 and 1999/2000

The Committee feels that the monthly increases under the intervention system should be frozen at current levels, rather than decreased. It firmly rejects the proposal to use the Guarantee Fund to finance BSE measures. The Committee considers the reasoning behind the reductions in the flax and hemp sector to be irrelevant, and thus rejects the reductions. The Committee highlights the serious crisis in the rice sector, and calls for the monthly increases to be left unchanged. It calls on the Commission to provide an analysis of the impact of current and future price packages on consumer prices, food quality, health, the environment and rural communities. The Committee calls for an analysis of the employment impact of income trends and of future proposals. �