A number of EU agriculture ministers made the point in Brussels on Monday 6 March that account must be taken of the financial implications of the United Kingdom’s leaving the EU in discussions on the reform and in particular the budget of the common agricultural policy (CAP).
The debate on the future of the CAP, organised by the Maltese Presidency of the Council at the Agriculture Council, confirmed the concerns over the impact of Brexit on the budget. The German minister, Christian Schmidt, underlined the need to take the financial consequences of Brexit into account. The Netherlands said that the effect of a smaller budget must be borne in mind. Ireland, too, said that, in discussions on CAP reform, consideration would have to be given to the impact of the UK’s departure from the EU. Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan also pointed out the withdrawal of the UK from the EU would reduce the EU budget by €9 billion per year but it would be for the European Council to determine which policies were to be implemented with a smaller budget.
Rather significant disruption. French Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll acknowledged that the negotiations on the reform of the CAP were taking place at a bad time, because of Brexit. “The withdrawal of the United Kingdom will cause quite significant disruption with the disappearance, in its current form, of the British contribution and the British rebate”, he said. He cannot see how it will be possible to discuss or negotiate on the EU budget or the CAP budget until such time as the debate has taken place on how the UK will leave the EU.
With regard to the future of the CAP, Le Foll suggested that greater synergies could be found between cohesion policy and the CAP (in terms of the second pillar on rural development). France repeated its support for a system of precautionary savings in the first pillar (direct aid and market spending) to help farmers withstand climatic, health and even economic vicissitudes (see EUROPE 11562). Italy argued for an appropriately-sized budget for the CAP and more risk-management tools. The Maltese Presidency of the Council also called for a strong CAP budget within the sensitive context of Brexit.
Improving the resilience of farm businesses. Hogan told the Council that the resilience of farm businesses had to be strengthened and the EU’s crisis- and risk-management toolkit assessed “in order to avoid the dependence on ad-hoc public support packages”. He repeated his support for the continuation of the system of direct payments. He also highlighted commitment to the ongoing simplification and modernisation of the CAP. Many ministers made simplification a priority issue.
The recently opened public consultation on the future of the CAP has already produced over 12,500 responses “proving that there is significant stakeholder interest”, Hogan said. Following the consultation, Hogan’s department will present an impact assessment of the possible options for the future of the CAP. The Commission will publish a communication on the future of the policy before the end of this year. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)