Brussels, 07/05/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 4 May, the leaders of European agricultural and cooperative organisations (COPA and COGECA) adopted a stance in favour of a strong Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the retention of direct aid after 2013. Nearly 30 million people work on farms in the EU. Farmers and foresters manage over three-quarters of the area of the EU. With difficult market conditions and rising costs, farmers have seen their incomes slide over the last ten years.
“A strong CAP is more important now than ever,” said COPA President Padraig Walshe. “There can be few priorities more important to European citizens than the security, safety and stability of their food supplies, produced in a sustainable way,” he argued. COPA-COGECA is against any re-nationalisation of the CAP and any further co-financing (which exist only for second pillar measures - rural development).
The two organisations highlight the crucial role of direct aid after 2013. This aid can make up two thirds of farmers' incomes and allows them provide benefits which, though appreciated by society, are not remunerated by the market. Reference is made to employment and economic viability in rural areas, to the maintenance of a diverse and attractive countryside, to food security and to sustainable production which meets the world's highest standards.
COPA-COGECA, which support payment modulation (transfer of aid from the first pillar - direct aid and market measures - to the second pillar), believe, however, that member states must continue to be allowed to transfer part of these payments in order to help vulnerable sectors or regions which need support, though they say that this transfer has to be limited to avoid distorting competition. They also argue that it is essential to ensure that direct aid is paid to the farmers themselves and not to landowners who do not exercise any farming activity. Referring to a recent study carried out for DG Agriculture of the European Commission (Scenar 2020 II), COPA-COGECA warn that a reduction in direct aid would lead to the loss of a considerable number of farmers, to land being left unworked and to intensification and concentration of remaining production in some areas.
Adjustments to the CAP post-2013 should focus on increasing market stability for consumers and reinforcing the economic production role of farmers. To achieve this, the organisations say, new tools are needed to deal with market volatility and measures to reinforce farmers' position in the food chain in the face of the immense purchasing power of a handful of processors ad supermarkets. Producers receive only 20% of the prices consumers pay, compared with 30% a decade ago, complains COGECA President Paolo Bruni.
Walshe added that adjustments to the CAP post-2013 should reinforce the common nature of the policy. “We need financial solidarity based on an adequate budget with fair and equal treatment of all farmers, taking into account differences in conditions,” he said. (L.C./transl.rt)