02/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - on Friday 2 July, European Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Cioloº broached the idea of a “mutual fund” providing European farmers with some insurance against setbacks, with some of the funding coming perhaps from the public purse. Cioloº, who is due to bring forward proposals on the post-2013 common agricultural policy (CAP) in November, said this “new idea suggested by some member states” was worthy of consideration. He was speaking at the congress of the German agricultural federation DBV in Berlin. The idea that the state might pay part of insurance premiums taken out by farmers, to protect themselves against natural disasters, for example, already exists elsewhere. It would be a matter of trying to go further, with systems that do not necessarily require private insurance. The “mutual find” the commissioner spoke of would be funded partly from the public purse and would mean money accumulated in good years could be counted on in difficult times, he said. He added that the debate was still at a very early stage. (L.C./transl.rt)