Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to give a short answer to your question as far as Switzerland is concerned. It is a fact that the agricultural problem in our country is extremely important. At this time, it is one of our main concerns. It is more the protection of the landscape that counts, because of the tourism industry and the fact that our country is very small. Our country provides some support through subsidies that are more ecological in nature, I dare say. They are based on the acreage under crop, or on the number of livestock, and not on the production.
The agricultural production will be more and more left aside as the basis of government support, and replaced by the concepts of acreage and landscape. The situation is quite different depending on the location. We have farms in flat plains or in middle or high altitude. The support depends on the location. In the mountains, we do not have any significant production excepts dairy products, but in the lower lands, agriculture can make a difference.
Right now, our farmers wonder what the future will be, in a country that could emphasize more the economy, machine tools, watchmaking and other products that have a rather good added value.