Over the years, the French industry has shown a dynamic ability to adapt to an economic environment undergoing dramatic changes—“profound
evolution.” Today, we find ourselves confronted with new changes right across the board, notably:
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•increasing EEC production of rapeseed and sunflower
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•improvement of meal quality of EEC crops
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•competition from Third World oil-producing nations, and unfair commercial practices
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•EEC enlargement with Spain and Portugal joining, and the resultant effects on our political, agricultural and economic future
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•changing patterns in consumer oil preferences
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•stagnation in worldwide oil consumption
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•changing world trading patterns
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•protectionist rules regarding price controls
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This list is not comprehensive, but shows why, at the moment when France is about to take on major changes, the French oil
industry must take the measures necessary to allow it to face the challenge of future years, in an environment of increasingly
difficult competition.
Everyone is conscious that, beyond the oil industry, what is at stake is the dynamism of the whole series of connected oilseed
producers in France, and its future in a European community of 12 members.