Een van de eerste echte Europeanen
"He was able tot let countries look beyond narrow minded, short term interests. He was able to unite countries around a common interest. And those are very important qualities for an Agricultural Commissioner."
Engelstalige toespraak door Gerda Verburg, minister van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit (LNV) bij de opening van de tentoonstelling over Sicco Mansholt - from Farmer to European Commissioner - op 19 November 2009 in Brussel.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is an honour for me to speak at the opening of this exhibition on the life and work of Sicco Mansholt. He was the first EU Commissioner on agriculture. He was a farmer and at the same time one of the first true Europeans. He realized the importance of a Common Agricultural Policy to unite Europe. At the time only very few people believed he could manage to bring member states together in such a sensitive policy area.
He was able to let countries look beyond narrow minded, short term interests. He was able to unite countries around a common interest. And those are very important qualities for an Agricultural Commissioner.
Quite a few Agricultural Commissioners in the years after him had this same ability to unite member states around a bigger cause. Mariann, you certainly have that ability! And we are thankful for that. On the eve of our search for a new Agricultural Commissioner, I can't resist underlining the importance of those two qualities Mansholt showed us: a clear vision for the future as well as the ability to unite countries and people around that vision.
Let me now thank the people who took the initiative to organise this exhibition. When I saw the exhibition at my Ministry in The Hague it made a great impression on me. As it did on many others. The Mansholt exhibition - from farmer to European Commissioner - was visited by many people in The Hague.
I am very pleased that the material from The Hague could be moved to Brussels so that people here too can learn more about the life and work of Sicco Mansholt.
Because Sicco Mansholt is most certainly a man who is worth getting to know better. If you can find the time, I would heartily recommend reading his book The Crisis, in which, as one of the architects of the Common Agricultural Policy, he looks back on his role in politics and society.
In the book he tells what problems he had to face and how he evaluated the different interests and power relationships within Europe. And how he translated vision and strategy into everyday practical action. It is a very readable book full of experiences, anecdotes and reflections.
Another reason why this exhibition is being show in Brussels is of course because of its European context. Because Mansholt is not only Mansholt-the-man, but also an exponent and shaper of our European history. To understand that, we need to take a step back in time. The Europe of the 1950s was most concerned with peace and security and in creating a common market for consumer goods and investment products.
Mansholt realised that such a market could never be created without a common agricultural policy. In that sense, our common agricultural policy is rather a by-product of European ambitions than its core-business. Mansholt demonstrated this on more than one occasion: without a common agricultural policy there would be no common market for consumer goods or the sector.
But in spite of the fact that agricultural policy was really a by-product, over the years it demanded a great deal of attention and was indeed given it. It was of course an area of policy that could only be organised with full Community collaboration. That is, with the commitment of all the governments involved. This was much less the case for the steel industry or for oil and chemicals.
Europe and agriculture are inseparably bound together. Mansholt realised this early on. However he also saw - towards the end of his career - that a successful European agricultural policy also had its downside. And now I will return to the present.
He realised that by focussing on production, too little attention was being paid to how we were treating our soil, the environment and our animals. And this is again a mark of his vision. Because now the European Commission is increasingly committed to sustainable business practice.
And we are rewarding farmers for managing landscape and nature and for how they care for the environment and their animals. And this will be visible for everyone to see.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A famous Dutch poet once said: 'the present is written in the past, the future in the present'. Here in this exhibition the bonds between the present and the past are very clear. Because Mansholt's ideals for a strong, productive and sustainable agricultural sector really are within our reach. Thank you.