Brussels, 06/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - Dacian Ciolos stepped down as European Commissioner for Agriculture on 1 November. In a letter recently sent to more than a hundred NGOs and professional associations, whom he thanks for the work they helped him to achieve, the Romanian said that the results of his five years in office were positive.
“The value of exports of agricultural and agri-food produce has grown by 70% in five years. Farm revenue has increased by 25%, in both the old and the new member states (…). However, these positive figures must not detract from the challenges and the need to continue to support European agriculture through a strong common agriculture policy equipped with solid tools”, said the former Commissioner.
These results could scarcely have been hoped for, given the direction the CAP was going in when he took up his position in 2009: his predecessor, Denmark's Mariann Fischer Boël, wanted to liberalise the agricultural markets and in its initial draft budgets at the end of 2009, the Commission was calling for the CAP budget to be cut by 30% to 40%.
Having taken up his duties just after the global food crisis of 2008, Dacian Ciolos succeeded in bringing agriculture back to the centre of European considerations: the CAP budget has been more or less preserved and although they have been modernised and scaled down, the regulatory tools are still in place.
A fairer and greener CAP
In a sort of message to his successor, Ireland's Phil Hogan, he hammers home his firm belief: “food security remains a major global challenge for the 21st century. And Europe must contribute to this by making its production capacity, its expertise and its sense of innovation available for the long term (…). The ban decreed by the Russian authorities in August 2014 and the E-coli crisis of 2011 show just how vulnerable our sectors are to a greater range of economic, climatic and sanitary risks”. He argues that the tools of the new CAP will increase the resilience of Europe's production systems. But the Russian ban alone has already absorbed almost all of the 2015 crisis reserve. The last few months of Ciolos's term in office were given over to managing the crisis stemming from the Russian embargo. And many would say that the Commission reacted swiftly by taking measures (perishable fruit and vegetables, private storage for dairy products, peaches and nectarines and examining targeted aid for dairy producers in the Baltic States and Finland).
Dacian Ciolos started his mandate with a wide public consultation on agriculture, which gave rise to a slightly fairer and somewhat greener CAP. “It is vital that this openness and this reflection continue over the next years. Because nothing can ever be taken for granted in a major policy such as the CAP: it must continue to show and clearly demonstrate added value for the European citizens”.
The reform of the CAP is one of the major achievements of the Barroso II Commission, leading to a new “paradigm” for Europe's agricultural policy.
According to Ciolos's team, this will allow the CAP to respond to the imperatives of: food security, diversity (fairer support between countries, regions and farmers, toolbox to make better use of the 175 million hectares of agricultural land, support for less-favoured areas), sustainability (thanks to the greening of 30% of direct payments, more than €100 billion in EU funds between 2014 and 2020 will be dedicated to environmental and climate change measures), quality (quality package approved, reform of produce distribution programmes in schools underway, etc).
As regards the budget, the direct payments are more targeted and controls are more effective. Only active farmers will receive revenue support (list of excluded activities).
According to the services of Ciolos, the CAP is simpler (support regime in favour of small farmers, rural development programmes) and less bureaucratic, but farmers and many MEPs fail to agree (EUROPE 11171).
To step up the competitiveness of agriculture, the EU has brought in: - an aid regime to support young farmers under the age of 40 (25% extra aid for the first five years, to apply in all member states); - new crisis management tools (income insurance and mutual funds); - an agriculture crisis reserve; - the abolition of sugar (2017) and milk (2015) quotas.
Additionally, the dairy package entered into force in 2012 and the money earmarked for agricultural research has doubled. The other major dossiers concluded by the Commissioner include the new regulation on the promotion of agricultural products. (LC)