Brussels, 27/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 26 June, the French agriculture minister told the press in Brussels that negotiations on the reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP) were “suspended” pending those on the multi-annual financial framework of the EU for 2014 -“EUROPE 2020”. In the agriculture negotiations, “France's position will be to defend the agriculture budget and the CAP”, he added, following talks with the European Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos. He also said that he was in favour of a greening of the first (direct aid) and second (rural development) pillars of the CAP, whilst noting that as regards these, “some flexibility will be required to make sure that it works”.
“We need to move from standards for each holding to a new dynamic, to a more collective organisation”, he said. As regards the convergence of direct payments within the member states, Le Foll stressed the need to “take account of employment”. “We need to reflect” on what can be done in France, he stressed, describing the idea of a single rate as implausible.
The French minister said that he was prepared to fight in favour of keeping food aid to the poorest in place after 2014, in reference to the European programme on which many charities depend, but whose future is under threat. The programme, which has been challenged by several European countries constituting a blocking minority within the EU, and which include Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom, received a temporary stay of execution last year following a Franco-German compromise negotiated by Le Foll's predecessor, Bruno Le Maire. Berlin agreed to keep the programme in 2012 and 2013, in exchange for a formal observation that the conditions had “not been met” to allow the EU to fund aid to the poorest beyond that point. However, the new French government intends to call this compromise back into question and to “see how we can keep the programme in place”, Le Foll said. “I have not yet discussed the subject with my German colleague, but I will be doing so”, he promised. Germany argued that this programme, with an annual budget of €500 million, was more a matter for social policy and was therefore not within the remit of the European Union. “All indications are that there will be changes along the budgetary lines” to fund the programme, for example by drawing the required monies from a plank of the European budget other than agricultural expenditure, said Le Foll. He feels that the crisis is “deep enough” for the programme not to be scrapped, “in view of the problems a proportion of the European population has in getting access to food”. (LC/transl.fl)