Brussels, 09/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - As we pointed out before (EUROPE of 8 February, p.11), the Greens/EFA (European Free Alliance) group at the European Parliament proposed a ten-point plan for a "New Common Agricultural Policy". In this document, the group notes: "Today, the Common Agricultural Policy is no longer fulfilling its main objectives. The income of the majority of farmers is no longer safeguarded. Consumers are now paying more than ever for agricultural products - including for the expensive side effects of industrialised farming, clearly seen by the growing costs of BSE". Greens and regionalists now consider that "the Common Agricultural Policy should build precautionary consumer protection into all the production of foodstuffs and create a new framework of condition to encourage competitiveness based on quality". The 10 points of this plan are:
1. Introduction of the Precautionary Principle into agricultural production. The consumer's decision to purchase should be motivated by the origin of the animal, the conditions in which it was raised and its method of production. Farmers should count less on public aid and move more towards their regional quality markets. The measures cited include: - the complete abolition of all risk materials relating to BSE from the whole of the human and animal food chain; - the introduction of certified lists of additives, pesticides and cleaning products for animal feed; - the ban on the prophylactic use of antibiotics as well as pesticides and fattening additives likely to be detrimental to health.
2. Ecological and social conditions guaranteeing quality, needed for obtaining public aid. Public aid can no longer simply be for developing an enterprise or increasing productivity. It must guarantee environmentally friendly farming and improved quality. For stock-farming this means: the abolition of aid for floor racks, the use of liquid manure and intensive farming; an obligation related to surface area (2 gross cattle unit per hectare); minimum space, freedom of movement and a minimum amount of natural light for each animal, etc.
3. Agricultural prices and loyal competition around quality. It is a question of reducing the influence of the agri-foods industry and major distribution on the market by granting priority to proximity trade and regional markets, thanks to quality labels and labels of origin. The measures proposed are: - reduction in public aid and the abolition of export refunds; - revision and additional indications for labelling (origin, conditions of farming and food); - adjustment of regulations on hygiene mainly for fresh produce intended for local and regional marketing; the abolition of tax preferences for agri-industrial production (battery farming).
4. Horizontal measures, rural development. The Member States should from now on fully use the possibilities provided for rural development by Agenda 2000. When the BSE crisis has been mastered, it will no longer be possible to return to the former logic of intervention. It will be necessary to develop measures in favour of extensification and apply a ceiling for premiums (compulsory limit 90 bulls) entailing reduced meat supply.
5. Breakdown of means/enlargement - crisis calls for revision of Agenda 2000. A new distribution of funds is urgently needed, mainly in the light of enlargement. Compensatory payments exclusively reserved for the current Member States should already be available during the pre-accession phase of the candidate countries in order to promote quality production, environment measures and rural development. Measures proposed are: - gradual transfer of the means for managing surpluses towards structural rural policy, including the promotion of quality products and their means of identification; - compulsory link between eco-premiums and work (modulation) in all Member States.
6. Improved quality and promotion of biological agriculture. The CAP should: - support reconversion towards environmentally-friendly products and products that are poor in harmful substances, as well as methods of production that save resources (energy, water, fertilisers, chemicals); - promote the introduction of products produced "ecologically" and that safeguard the health of babies (babyfood), children at school, patients in hospitals and the public at canteens.
7. Control of production and use of arable land instead of set aside. The new CAP must allow a reduction of the EU deficit in high-protein crops. It would first of all be appropriate to move from set aside to a measure aimed at extending crop rotation. Instead of encouraging oilseed and protein crops as a mass product and promoting crop rotation through premiums relating to the surface area and quantities produced, the culture of animal feed should be enhanced through crops such as clover, beans, field beans and peas.
The obligatory addition to the farming of cereals with vegetables and fodder crops as a condition for aid can give rise to ecological cycles and contribute towards the improving of soils. Instead of granting a bonus linked to the surface area, which favours the growing of maize and stable feed (presently EUR 400 per hectare), it will above all be appropriate to encourage the rearing on the prairie of farm of grasses in the poorer areas.
8. International trade relations and WTO: "the shortage of multifunctionality in European agriculture will have no success as a concept for negotiation," as long as any concrete promotion measure detached from the increasing of production is not implemented. The preventative protection of consumers must be set as a safeguard clause in the WTO agricultural negotiations, in order to avoid a repetition of the argument relating to hormones. The EU must rapidly review its negotiating strategy and centre it on a structural and environmental policy strengthened for the rural area.
9. Democratic control: the former CAP survived numerous reforms, because a large number of Member States are net beneficiaries of Community aid and that neither the national parliaments, nor the European Parliament can influence the decisions of the Agriculture Council, notes the document which calls for a power of codecision for the European Parliament.
10. Agricultural research: instead of concentrating on biotechnology and the increasing of profitability, research should place emphasis on innovation in biological farming, the use of genetic resources, and environmentally friendly farming.