EU Executive unveils “green” farm policy vision

Last Thursday (November 18), the EU executive adopted plans to invigorate farmers into doing more to protect the environment.

In a policy paper on reforming the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP) from 2013, the European Commission said linking direct subsidies, which are currently worth approximately 40 billion Euros a year, to new environmentally sustainable objectives would help justify the costly policy to EU taxpayers.

The plans were put in place in order to justify public subsidies, despite farm unions warning that it could threaten their economic viability. EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos spoke to EU lawmakers in Brussels.

In a statement he said: "The CAP has never been so close to a crisis of legitimacy as it is today. This is an opportune moment to refocus (the CAP) in line with the expectations of society."

Copa-Cogeca, the EU farmers union, is unsure whether the Commission's focus on making the CAP more sustainable risked undermining EU food production by increasing farmers' costs.

President Padraig Walshe of Copa-Cogeca said: "The only concrete proposal in the paper is to add more costly (environmental) burdens onto EU farmers. Increasing costs lowers incomes and will have a devastating effect on production,"

The Commission will present its plans to EU farm ministers on November 29, with a formal response from EU governments expected early next year before the Commission's legislative reform proposals due in July.

European countries which have seen the plans are looking forward to new relations with German farm minister Ilse Aigner calling the paper "a good basis for further negotiations on a national and European level."

A British government spokesman added his concerns, stating that Britain would have preferred more acknowledgements for the economic challenges facing the EU.

He said: "Whilst recent reforms to the CAP reflect the right direction of travel, this needs to be accelerated, promoting greater competitiveness (and) efficient use of taxpayer resources."

Lawmakers in the European Parliament criticized the paper for its lack of detail in many of its proposals. Scottish liberal MEP George Lyon said: "The Commission's paper is so widely drawn that nearly everyone will find something in it which appeals to them. The real threat of big budget cuts still hangs over the whole policy debate, and the final decision on the budget will have a profound impact on the final outcome."

France, Spain and other traditionally pro-CAP governments have pledged to resist any moves to cut the CAP budget, pitting them against Britain, Sweden and others who want to limit EU spending and refocus it on economic growth and innovation.

The paper ruled out an EU-wide flat-rate subsidy, but said farmers in all countries could receive a minimum percentage of the EU average rate currently about 250 Euros per hectare.

France's farm minister Bruno Le Maire said France would oppose any bid to weaken direct subsidies, while Germany's own farm minister, Ilse Aigner said that any redistribution must be limited and phased, and was dependent on the overall size of the future EU budget.

Environmental groups approached the paper cautiously, and Friends of the Earth said of the paper, "it is a long-awaited step towards a more people and planet friendly food and agriculture policy."

Author: Charity Knight | Climate Action

Image: alpha du centaure | flickr