Brussels, 03/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - At its meeting in Gijón, Spain, on 15-16 February, the Political Bureau of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) is scheduled to adopt its position on the future of the common agricultural policy (CAP) after 2013, when the EU financial perspectives come to an end. The CPMR opinion will focus more particularly on the new criteria for allocating aid to farmers and on the larger role to be played by the region in implementing rural development programmes.
“The current system of direct payments is no longer justifiable, particularly because the level of subsidy is still largely dependent on historical reference periods,” states the working paper that is to be discussed by the CPMR Bureau. The CPMR will propose a gradual move towards a more standardised system, which nevertheless has justified and sufficient differentiation of grants in accordance with standard areas established on the basis of different productive systems, climate and soil conditions, territorial circumstances, productive conditions, etc, according to the paper which is not yet the organisation's formal position.
The regions propose that there should be a wide debate on the development of these subsidies, which would be informed by clear, available data on the territorial consequences of the various possible scenarios: - the consequences for agricultural and rural employment; - the impact on fragile territories (islands, mountain areas, sparsely-populated areas, ecologically sensitive areas); - differentiation and modulation of subsidies depending on the role of the agricultural activity and the extent to which environmental objectives are taken into account.
The CPMR calls on the European Commission to draw up some territorial scenarios as rapidly as possible and to make the simulations and results public.
The regions must be responsible for adapting the level of aid. Within limits that ensure that the terms of competition are not distorted, the new regulation on direct support schemes must clearly enable regional authorities to intervene and modulate the level of direct subsidies within their regional territory, so as to: - support the development of agri-food processing infrastructure; - to encourage the development of particular types of production, for example related the local area, geography, tradition, etc; - develop sectoral policies, for example in the organic farming industry; - to encourage more environmentally-friendly behaviour in certain parts of the territory; - to check that farmers in the region have a sufficient level of income.
Tailoring direct support schemes to the production of public goods. A further idea that the CPMR holds dear and one which the European Parliament has backed is creating a stronger link between the level of direct support allocated to farms and the intensity of the public services (non-tradable goods) that they provide: environmental services and land management services in disadvantaged areas. It will still be necessary, the CPMR suggests, to think about developing the instruments currently used under the two pillars of the CAP (direct aid and the market on the one hand, and rural development on the other) which could help support such an option which consists of making aid conditional on the production of public goods (minimum environmental requirements to be eligible for direct aid, how to remunerate services which go beyond the minimum environmental requirements, and deciding on which measures should be co-financed at national level).
The shift from the current support system to models that are totally disconnected from historical reference periods will bring about massive transfers of public money between production sectors, categories of territories, countries and regions. The change from one type of production to another can only take place over a period of several years, the CPMR acknowledges. The shift from one system of support to another therefore also “requires a sufficiently long period of adaptation”, it says.
Reformed market regulation measures. The CPMR speaks of the importance of keeping a “safety net” for agricultural income. It does not advocate that all the current tools for managing the markets should be retained. However, it would like them to be actively developed, depending on their particular context (price levels and global stocks). Nor does it call into question the need to improve EU instruments for managing market risks or risks incurred as a result of climate change.
Lastly, the CPMR calls for multiannual contractual relationships between the EU, states and each of the regions in order to implement European strategies at territorial level. They could take the form of “multiannual territorial pacts” and should include a rural development strand. The regions must be clearly identified as rural development leaders in their areas.
The CPMR, which advocates a robust agriculture and food policy in the face of new challenges, will discuss the future of the CAP with the other Community institutions at a major event to be held in Almeria, Andalusia in May. (L.C./transl.rt)