PRUEBA EN LOS DELITOS SEXUALES

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There are nine regional agriculture chambers which form one national umbrella organisation, the Conference of Presidents of Chambers of Agriculture (“Präsidentenkonferenz der österreichischen Landwirtschafts- kammern”). The regional chambers are the official interest representation of all farmers for whom membership is obligatory. The chambers form one of the four “social partners” in Austria, which serve formalised and

fundamental functions in the legislative process on all levels. The way farmers vote in the chambers is based on membership of the farmers’ associations, which – in turn –are organised in conjunction with the general political parties in Austria. The biggest farmer association is the “Österreichischer Bauernbund” (controlling between 70 and 90 per cent of the votes in the chambers), which is affiliated with the conservative ÖVP (people’s party). The other two farmer associations, SPÖ-Bauern and Freiheitliche Bauernschaft are sympathetic towards the Social Democrats and the Freedom Party respectively. The agriculture chambers are also influential in marketing as they are represented in the Agrar Marketing (AMA) boards (see below) and in many local dairies, abattoirs and mills. Up until the late 1980s the official attitude of the chambers towards national co-operation with organic farming organisations was very negative. Organic farming was perceived as an opponent in politics (supporters of organic farming generally being members of the “wrong” party; namely the Social Democrats) as well as in the food market. On the other hand, organic farmers at that time were generally perceived as being motivated by a fundamental ideological stand and disinterested in co- operating with the chambers (s: agriculture administrator). Parts of the organic sector itself, saw organic farming as a way to break the dominance of the agricultural establishment (s: organic farmers’ organisation

representative). There were, however, examples of more cooperative inter- relationships between the organic and conventional agriculture sector. In the provinces of Oberösterreich and Steiermark the co-operation between agriculture chambers and organic farmers already existed in the early 1980s and the potential of organic farming for the mainstream agricultural sector was recognised. Riegler, who later became very influential in the issue of support for organic farming as the Minister for Agriculture, was a member of the Steiermark provincial government at that time.

There is still some reluctance towards organic farming within the chambers and among its leading representatives, but the general attitude

has changed. This change seems to have come about for several reasons. Firstly, a generation change within the public administration has taken place. Younger staff are replacing older chamber representatives who have been influenced by their experience of the hunger period after the Second World War and therefore still see productivity increase as a primary aim for agricultural development (s: agriculture administrator). Secondly, as the organic sector has expanded, the chambers had no choice other than to co-operate in the provinces with a high proportion of organic farmers (s: retail representative). Thirdly, points of interrelationships between the general agriculture chambers and organic farming organisations have been established through the introduction of organic advisory services within the chambers. Minister Riegler enforced this measure, against the will of some regional chambers (s: organic farmers’ organisation and agriculture administration representatives). Today, the organic advisory services of the chambers and the organic associations – at least Ernte – co-operate in most provinces. Still, though, this relationship is not free from

competition, as in some provinces the chambers appear to aim for an increase in the share of organic Codex farmers in order to minimise the influence of the organic associations (s: organic farmers’ organisation representative). Finally, although organic farming organisations are not represented in the chambers because voting takes place along party lines, a few individual organic farmers have been elected to the governing bodies of the chambers as representatives of one of the parties. However, the Agriculture Chambers maintain that organic farming is but one of several ways to improve agricultural production, alongside integrated production and other changes in conventional production (Michelsen and Krongaard [unpublished]).

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Overall there appears to have been a strong political commitment towards organic farming, which is still dominant in official government statements (Molterer 1999). High government commitment for organic farming was also indicated by the appearance of the Minister of Agriculture Wilhelm Molterer in a recent promotion campaign for organic farming. In addition the Ministry for Science and Transport selected the area of organic farming as a subject for the Austrian Delphi Project, seeing it as an area of high potential for Austrian leadership in technology. However, outside of the organic sector a pronounced view is that expansion of the organic sector can now only be achieved by means of the market forces (s: general farmers’ organisation and agriculture administration representatives). The first political initiative in support of organic farming came from the Ministry for Consumer Protection, generally perceived to be a stronghold of the social democrats and the labour movement which are not members of the network involved in agriculture policy. It took the form of passing an organic section in the Austrian Codex Alimentarius in 1983.

In 1986, Minister Riegler aimed to re-orient the agricultural policy towards socio-ecological objectives and saw organic farming as a means to achieve this, which led to the setting of a national target of 15-20 per cent conver- sion in the medium term set by the government roundabout 1992, although this target was never widely publicised (Posch 1997). The back- ground for the re-orientation of agriculture policy was a very problematic situation for the national budget of agriculture policy, which developed in the late 1980s. In particular the negative budget implications of an over supply in milk, meat and grain paved the way for a political interest in the potential contribution of reducing production by means of promoting organic farming.

Direct public support for organic farming started in the regions of Ober- österreich, Steiermark and Niederösterreich in 1989. The first measure from the federal Ministry of Agriculture to stimulate organic farming was the introduction of grants to organic farming associations followed by a nation-wide direct conversion subsidy to producers in 1991. It was supplemented in 1992 by a programme to support organic production for existing producers. Direct subsidies were seen to be necessary in order to pay producers for the ecological benefits of organic farming, recognising that the market alone would not generate enough incentive for a larger proportion of farmers to convert to organic production (s: agriculture administrator). This has been described as the beginning of the develop- ment of an agri-environmental model of supporting agriculture (Posch 1997).

In 1994, the Ministry of Agriculture introduced in 1994 a joint label available for all those wishing to follow the above-mentioned Codex standard. The AMA administers this system. The label has, however, not been successful, partly due to the success of labels introduced by multiple retailers such as the “Ja natürlich”-label from the Billa-Merkur group. Negotiations for EU membership starting in the late 1980s, intensified the need for further substantial changes in Austria’s agriculture policy. As prices of agricultural produce were expected to fall drastically after EU accession, support for extensive production systems was seen as one way to avoid a heavy intensification of Austrian agriculture as a result of the price fall (s: agriculture administrator). It appears, therefore, that the EU accession was a background factor for the development of organic farming. It created a situation of uncertainty for farmers with regard to price development. Particularly in the more marginal areas, organic farming with an emphasis on regional development, and the higher rates of agri- environmental subsidies under EC Reg. 2078/92, was seen at the time as a way of escaping uncertainty bothfrom a political perspective and for individual farmers.

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