Brussels, 13/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - At the end of the marathon vote on Wednesday 13 March, the European Parliament announced its priorities ahead of the forthcoming negotiations (end March, early April) with the member states on the reform of the common agriculture policy (CAP). The aim is to conclude the matter by June.
“Today we have struck a proper balance between food security and improved environmental protection (…). [The common agriculture policy] also must be made less bureaucratic and fairer to farmers, not least to empower them to cope with crises. This will be our position when negotiating its final shape”, said the chairman of the committee on agriculture, Paolo De Castro (S&D, Italy). According to the Greens/EFA Group, the impact on the environment of the CAP as reformed by the EP will be worse than the policy left unchanged.
The EP has adopted the proposals of the European Commission aiming to set a ceiling on direct payments to any holding at €300,000 and sharply to reduce payments to those receiving more than €150,000. The S&D group would have agreed to an upper limit of €200,000, the Greens €100,000.
Greening. According to the MEPs, 30% of the national budgets for direct payments should be dependent on obligatory agro-environmental measures (diversification of crops, maintenance of grassland and permanent pasture, creation of “ecologically-focused areas”), but the application of these should be more flexible and gradual. Speaking on behalf of the ADLE group, George Lyon of the UK, however, higjhlighted lesser flexibility on greening that would have a harmful impact.
As regards direct aid, the differences between farmers from different countries should be balanced out more quickly than the Commission suggests, the MEPs feel. No farmer should receive less than 65% of the average European funding. Recommending greater transparency, the EP takes position in favour of the publication of the names of the recipients of European agricultural funds. It brings in an indicative list of landowners (e.g. airports, sports clubs) which would be automatically excluded from EU funding, unless agriculture constitutes a major proportion of their income. It is worth noting that young farmers are set to receive 25% of additional payments up to 100 hectares.
CMO. The EP took position against the extension of milk quotas, which are set to expire in 2015. In order to prevent the end of milk quotas from causing a serious crisis in this sector, it proposes aid for at least three months to producers voluntarily reducing their production by at least 5%. As for the sugar market, the EP vetoes proposals on the expiry of quotas in 2015, in order to allow sugar beet producers to prepare for the liberalisation of the sector in 2020.
In order to help farmers face the volatility of the market and to reinforce their position during price negotiations, their organisations should receive new tools and be authorised to negotiate sub-contracting and supply contracts, the MEPs argue. (MB/transl.fl)