Statement by Con Cremin
'Agricultural Pool Preparatory Conference'

I should like to preface my remarks by expressing the regret of the Minister for Agriculture¹ of Ireland at his inability to attend this conference. He would have liked to do so but found it impossible, because of pressure of parliamentary business, to come to Paris at the present time.

My Government has examined with much interest and sympathy the proposals put forward by the French Government for the organisation of a common market in agriculture and wishes to pay tribute to the spirit which animated the French Government in taking this step. The Irish Government shares the desire of the French Government to contribute to the development of closer economic co-operation between the States of Western Europe, and is particularly interested in proposals relating to agriculture, having regard to the predominance of agriculture in Ireland’s economy. It feels, however, that the present proposals require very careful consideration, indeed, before a decision is taken to endeavour to put them into effect.

My Government doubts whether the agricultural economies of the countries of Western Europe are such as to lend themselves to integration. Such a step must necessarily raise many problems of a fundamental character. The integration of European agriculture is in our view a quite different matter from the integration of heavy industries. Agriculture is, indeed, as President Schuman recalled in his opening statement, and as Minister Laurens² has well described in the course of this discussion, in quite a different category from such industries. To regard it and treat it as an industry in the common acceptation of that term would be to ignore the very special features which characterise it and which make it rather a way of life than a material occupation for the majority of the population of several countries represented here. In many of our countries there is a long tradition behind the form of agricultural production which they at present practise. Any schemes involving a large-scale alteration of the pattern of production would in countries like Ireland give rise to serious disturbance of the social and demographic structure.

The project for the creation of a common agricultural market embracing all the countries of Western Europe might, we feel, in the very long run and under favourable circumstances, offer certain advantages to Western Europe as a whole. We think, however, that any attempt to implement such a project in the near future might prejudice its prospects of ultimate success. The increasing economic and currency difficulties which confront the countries of Western Europe, and the withdrawal of liberalisation of trade by two of the most important of them, hardly provide a favourable climate for the practical application of the proposals of the French Government which, because of their far-reaching and, indeed, rather revolutionary character, must necessarily cause severe economic disturbance over an appreciable period of time and may thus impede rather than advance the present production efforts of the countries concerned.

For these various reasons we feel that Governments must move very cautiously in contemplating action that in its ultimate repercussions could have widespread consequences for the very structure of society in at least some countries, and that the present conjuncture makes caution doubly necessary.

My Government is in sympathy with the stress placed by the French delegation on the need for expanding production and providing an adequate supply of agricultural products at prices remunerative to the producer and within the reach of the consumer. This is an immediate task facing all countries here represented, particularly having regard to the declaration of last August of the Council of Ministers of the OEEC, looking towards an increase of 25% in over-all production in Western Europe by 1956. We think, however, that there are other, and immediately more feasible, means, especially at the present time, of bringing about such an increase in agricultural production. The recent report of the Food and Agriculture Committee of the OEEC calls attention to the vital role of guaranteed outlets at satisfactory prices as a means of inducing the millions of farmers in our countries to increase their output. This seems to us to be a more effective method of attaining our purposes within a reasonable period and to be fundamentally more important than the removal of quantitative restrictions from trade in agricultural products, having regard to the great importance, as shown by experience, of stable marketing conditions coupled with an assurance of profitable prices, as an incentive to higher agricultural output. The OEEC report also indicates a number of other directions in which joint action might usefully be taken by Member-countries for the purpose of achieving a substantial increase in agricultural production in the next few years. Among the measures suggested is a co-ordinated and sustained effort to eliminate major diseases and pests which are at present a serious impediment to increased production, and to the free movement of agricultural products between countries. Ireland, for instance, as an island, has fortunately been able to take successful action in this sphere and we could naturally not envisage the relaxation of health restrictions on agricultural imports from other areas as long as animal and plant diseases continue to be widespread in such areas. The European Plant Protection Organisation can perform a very useful function in eliminating this obstacle to production and trade. We have from the outset taken a keen interest in the activities of that organisation. More recently we have accepted a leading part in an experiment with foot and mouth disease vaccines which is being undertaken in Germany under the auspices of a number of European countries and of the FAO. We believe that joint action on this and other lines should be widely developed and that technical collaboration between European countries, including the pooling of knowledge, is a pre-requisite to the development of an expanding and prosperous agricultural economy in Europe and could give positive results in the foreseeable future.

As I said at the outset, Mr. Chairman, my Government has taken a very keen interest in the proposals put forward by the French Government and recognises the generous spirit which has inspired them. Because of this interest, and despite our doubts of the wisdom of envisaging, especially at the present time, the integration of agriculture in Western Europe, my Government will probably be represented at the Conference for which the present meeting is intended to prepare.