Oulu, 25/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - At the informal meeting of the European agriculture ministers, which was held in Oulu, Finland, from 24 to 26 September, the European Commission raised a few ideas about the "bill of health" of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), to be completed in 2008 on the exercise, to be carried out at the same time, of the mid-term revision of the whole of the EU budget. In preparation for the debate, held on 26 September, on the future of the European agricultural model, the theme chosen by the Finnish Presidency for this informal meeting, the ministers got together the day before to level out their differences on various subjects to be dealt with during these exercises. Here is a summary of the reactions of the Member States, put together on 25 September during visits to agricultural and forestry holdings, organised by the Presidency.
Bill of health of the CAP: according to almost all the ministers asked, and in the view of Mariann Fischer Boel, the Commissioner for Agriculture, the exercise to determine the bill of health of the CAP in 2008 should allow a new changes to be made to this policy, but should under no circumstances lead to further reforms of the CAP. Nor, according to the delegations, is it a question of reducing the agricultural funds decided upon until 2013. Despite a few reductions as part of the agreement on the financial framework 2007-2013 (no budgetary extension to integrate Bulgaria and Romania into the EU), the agricultural (market) expenditure is kept kept as it stands until the end of 2013 in virtue of the conclusions of the European Council of October 2002 in Brussels. Amongst other things, Ms Fischer Boel suggested the revision, possibly even the removal, of the intervention system in the cereals sector, starting now with maize, intervention stocks of which have risen to 5,000,000 tonnes in the so-called "enclave" countries (Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia). It also states that it is favourable to an end to constraints on the freezing of land. As usual, France bitterly protested at what it claimed was the Commission's intention to put an end to intervention prices within the cereals sector.
The Commission also indicated that it wanted to go even further, up to 100% if possible, in the uncoupling of agricultural aid decided on in 2003 during the reform of the CAP. The United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden lent the Commission their support, whereas other Member States, notably France and Spain, pointed out that in 2003, they had fought for the right to keep a certain percentage of aid linked to production (particularly in the sector of bred animal premiums) to help prevent activities from being abandoned altogether in certain regions. The French delegation explained that the implementation of aid uncoupling has only just started in France (the first uncoupled payments are to start in mid-October) and other countries, such as the United Kingdom, are also just in the early stages of the new system.
Ms Fischer Boel also stated that she plans to propose to increase the system of the obligatory modulation of aid (a reduction of 5% per annum in direct payments to larger holdings to increase money earmarked for rural development) and stressed the need to adapt "the tools to the needs of the Member States", referring to the rural development programmes and agro-environmental measures.
France, Spain and Italy called on the Commission to propose Community instruments to manage risks and agricultural crises, first and foremost in the wine and fruits and vegetables sectors (which will be reformed in 2007), then in the other sectors in which such measures are needed.
Mid-term budget review: the Commission intends to present more radical reform measures to be applied from 2013. Ms Fischer Boel states that she is in favour of phasing out milk quota from 2014-2015, which provoked strong disagreement. The French, Austrian and Finnish ministers, amongst others, took position clearly in favour of keeping the system post-2015, whereas other countries, such as Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and the Netherlands supported the Commissioner. The Irish Minister, Mary Coughlan, and her Luxembourg counterpart, Fernand Boden, put forward the view that it was time to think about getting rid of this system of quotas. A more cautious Spain said that it will be better to keep the current system in place at least until 2015. France said that the quotas were vital to ensure that production was spread throughout the territory.
Ms Fischer Boel raised the idea of further simplifying the system of direct aid, extending to the "old" Member States of the EU the single payment regime currently used by eight of the 10 new Member States (Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia). This system is even simpler than the single payment used by the 17 other Member States of the EU, as it does not take account of historical references (production results during the period 2000-2002). But the Commissioner acknowledged that this change would create "much tension" between Member States, because there would be "winners and losers". The Dutch minister, Cees Veerman, also voiced the opinion that this change could create inequalities. In the view of some of the Member States, including Finland, this idea is worth looking into.