– (DE) Mr President, Commissioner, Mr Mulder, we are, to
day, discussing the second pillar and rural economic development, something that this House, and – if one is to believe its own utterances – the Commission too, regard as important, and even the members of th
e Council, in their speeches, keep on emphasising
that this is where the future of European agricultural policy lies, yet here we are, rejecting a proposal that is intende
...[+++]d, to all outward appearance, to put several billions of euros aside for this purpose.