Brussels, 29/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - “We must support and promote the European agricultural model currently being re-examined in a more determined and targeted way, to give us a strong common agricultural policy with an appropriate budget”, Staffan Nilsson, the President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) stated in a press release, welcoming the approach adopted by the European Commission's communication on the future common agriculture policy of the EU (CAP).
The newly-elected president said that he was “quite satisfied” that the Commission had adopted a large number of the recommendations expressed by the Committee in its opinion on the future CAP. Nonetheless, he laid emphasis on a number of elements which may be neglected in future debates, specifically:
(1) the current political framework should be rearranged and the objectives of the EU made reality. The agricultural model should be based on the principles of food sovereignty, sustainability and the real needs of farmers and consumers. The Committee states unambiguously that exclusively promoting and increasing competitiveness to respond to the needs of the global market is not enough;
(2) payments to farmers should be conditional on achieving objectives and must no longer be based on past decisions or achievements. Instead, they should be considered as compensation paid for specific services rendered to society, not reflected by market prices;
(3) rural development programmes must be developed and made as effective as possible. We strongly oppose transferring this kind of responsibility to the structural or general regional policy. (G.B./trans.fl)