Brussels, 20/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - On the sidelines of the European agriculture ministers' summit on 18 September, the European Farmer Coordination (CPE) met the President of the Council Juha Korkeaoja, and put to him its position on the future of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). This issue will be debated next week at the informal meeting of European agriculture ministers, in Oulu, Finland. Ahead of the review of the EU budget and the assessment of state of the CAP in 2008, the CPE stressed the need for a re-orientation of the CAP towards “sustainable farm agriculture in all regions”. The organisation calls for better distribution of direct payments (with a ceiling per worker set and compensation for natural handicaps) and “socio-conditional” payments to promote rural employment.
The CPE believes that the CAP promotes “concentration and the industrialisation of production” and finds that the EU has favoured the intensive dairy model based on maize/soja, “yet the model based on grass and vegetable protein, produced on the farm and good for the environment, brings greater autonomy and greater economic competitiveness”. According to the CPE, the CAP as it stands has no international, social or environmental legitimacy.