Brussels, 15/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - There is no question for the Council of reopening the agreement of 26 June on the reform of the common agriculture policy (CAP) and priority must now go to the formal adoption of the texts and implementation of the new measures.
It was with this message of rigour that the agriculture ministers of the countries of the EU responded, in Brussels on Monday 15 July, to the request of the European Parliament - at least of certain negotiators, such as Portugal's Luis Capoulas Santos (S&D) - for negotiation, in September, of the agricultural issues with a link to the multiannual financial framework of the EU (MFF) for 2014-2020, namely the upper limit and degressivity of direct aid, transfers of funds between the two pillars of the CAP and the co-funding of the rural development measures.
Germany, which has expressed considerable concerns, takes the view that the agreement is the one negotiated by the Irish Presidency of the first half of 2013. Specifically: degressivity of aid of 5% from €150,000 or 5% of “redistributive payments” (premiums paid for the first certain number of hectares). Germany believes that this offer should encourage the EP not to push its idea of an upper limit on aid. “Reopening the dossier would slow down the work to implement the reform, but Germany has already started to implement the first elements at national level”, said German Secretary of State Robert Kloos. Any further discussion on the points linked to the MFF would jeopardise the entire package, he stressed.
Quite a few things are not going down well with the farmers, the United Kingdom noted, with particular reference to degressivity, a view echoed by Ireland. “The EP will be judged harshly for its procrastination”, said the minister, Owen Paterson.
The Danish minister will not agree to the reopening of the debate under any circumstances. She stressed the need for financial discipline (reduction of direct payments to 2013) on the basis of the threshold (excess) of €2000, whereas the European Commission and several countries are calling for a threshold of €5000.
The Polish minister called on the EP to show flexibility and stressed the priorities of its country: flexibility between the pillars and co-funding of rural development funds.
France is hoping for a swift conclusion to the negotiations. It called on the Lithuanian Presidency to stick faithfully to the mandate, which reflects a balance which was hard won.
Sweden supported the views of Germany, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic.
Reopening the dossier would be counter-productive, the Austrian Minister added.
Italy expressed its hopes of seeing more measures in favour of quality products. “There is still room for greater flexibility”, said the Italian minister. For the countries whose envelopes will be less than today, it will not be possible to apply certain cuts, he added.
The work to implement the reform should not be conditional upon the negotiations on the MFF, said Spanish Minister Miguel Arias Canete. “The compromise should not be modified in any way whatsoever”, he said, calling on the Lithuanian Presidency to stand firm.
Estonia and Malta also opposed any revisiting of the dossier.
Cyprus pointed out that the work which remains to be done should not be underestimated. We must look constructively at the request of the EP, without moving away from the conclusions of the European Council. The island appeared to justify the need for an upper limit on aid, stating that 80% of the resources go to just 14% of farms. Nicosia also called for the threshold of €5000 in the framework of budgetary discipline to be kept in place.
“I have received a clear mandate from the Council, with unambiguous limits, and I intend to defend this mandate. We cannot call the agreement already reached into question”, concluded the Lithuanian minister, whilst referring to “certain outstanding issues which go beyond this agreement and on which we will have to work quickly”.
Dacian Ciolos, European Commissioner for Agriculture, said that the focus must be on finalising the legislative texts. “These technical discussions will have to take place with the EP on the adoption of the legislative texts. In this framework, we will be able to resolve all points which remain to be clarified. It appears to me that it is important not to reopen the political agreement reached after long negotiations”. The Commission hopes that swift progress will be possible in September on the subjects still to be discussed with the EP. (LC/transl.fl)