Emphasises that the production of biofuels should not interfere with food production or compromise food security; believes, however, that balanced policies to promote increased European yields in feedstock crops such as wheat, maize, sugar beet and sunflowers could include provision for biofuel production, taking account of ILUC, in a way which could provide Europe’s farmers with a secure income stream, attract investment and jobs into rural areas, help address Europe’s chronic shortage of (GM-free) high-protein animal feed, make Europe less dependent on fossil fuel imports; believes that in cases of market oversupply of the agricultural products referred t ...[+++]o, the production of biofuels and bioethanol would represent a temporary outlet which would maintain sustainable purchase prices, safeguard farmers’ incomes during crises, and serve as a market stability mechanism; stresses the need to encourage the integration of uncultivated arable land which is not being used to produce food into the production of bioenergy, with a view to meeting national and European renewable energy objectives.

In 2009, the economic and financial crisis substantially decreased producer prices of agricultural products in Lithuania: in the first quarter, the producer prices of agricultural products declined by 27 % compared to the first quarter of 2008, by 25,3 % in the second quarter compared to the second quarter of 2008 and by 8 % in the third quarter compared to the third quarter of 2008.

2. The agricultural products which are to be considered to have been used in the manufacture of the processed agricultural product shall be selected, from agricultural products actually used in the manufacture of the processed agricultural product, on the basis of their importance in international trade and of the extent to which their price levels are representative of the price levels of all the other agricultural products used in the manufacture of that processed agricultural product.

The transitional period was also designed to ease the process of privatisation and restitution of agricultural land to farmers, and the Commission, in its Report of 16 July 2008 on the Review of the transitional measures for the acquisition of agricultural real estate set out in the 2003 Accession Treaty (hereinafter the ‘Mid-Term Review’) already emphasised the importance of the completion of this policy by the end of the foreseen transitional period (1)

The purpose of Community farm investment aid is to modernise agricultural holdings to improve their economic performance through better use of the production factors including the introduction of new technologies and innovation, targeting quality, organic products and on/off-farm diversification, including non-food sectors and energy crops, as well as improving the environmental, occupational safety, hygiene and animal welfare status of agricultural holdings, while simplifying the conditions for investment aid as compared with those laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on ...[+++]support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) (3).

Finally, another interesting conclusion can be drawn from the ratio between the balance of current subsidies and taxes and the net value added: for year 2000, this indicator, which measures the dependence of the agricultural revenues on the public support, is equal to 98% for tobacco producers of the three considered countries, by far the highest value compared to other agricultural sectors.