Brussels, 26/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - On 24 January, the proposal setting up voluntary modulation of direct aid to increase available funding for rural development was almost unanimously rejected by the European Parliament's agriculture committee. The matter will again be put to the vote in a plenary vote at the Strasbourg session of 12-15 February.
On 14 November 2006, the EP rejected this voluntary modulation mechanism (see EUROPE 9306). The proposal, deriving from the European Council financial perspective 2007-2013 agreement of December 2005, authorises member states, if they wish, to reduce direct agricultural aid by up to 20% and to divert this money to rural development programmes. EU states have been applying a compulsory form of modulation since 2005 (3% reduction in aid in 2005, 4% in 2006 and 5% from 2007 until 2012).
Since the European Commission has not withdrawn this proposal, which, it says, responds to the request from the European Council, rapporteur Lutz Goepel (EPP-ED, Germany) said that the reasons which led to its rejection in plenary session “are still there”. MEPs felt that the proposal could lead not only to discrimination between EU farmers (since some countries could decide to implement the measure and some not), but also to “rampant renationalisation” of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (since it does not provide for compulsory co-financing). The EP agriculture committee felt, too, that the proposal prejudged, in several respects, the outcome of the CAP health check to be carried out in 2008-2009, an exercise in which the Parliament will be involved. The Commission accepted that some parts of the proposal could be criticised (the reduction would apply to direct aid and, also, market spending and the mechanism goes against measures on rural development spending). Following the forthcoming vote in the EP, the matter will be passed to the Council of European agriculture ministers who, in line with the consultation procedure, will not be required to take note of the EP's opinion. (lc)