Brussels, 20/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission plans to adopt, on 20 November, a communication launching avenues for reflection on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) “health check”. Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel will set out her ideas on paper. Most are already well-known: - increased uncoupling of direct aid and simplification of rules for aid payments; rise in the percentage of compulsory modulation for aid to strengthen rural development policy; transitional measures before the abolition in 2015 of dairy production quotas; and the development of instruments allowing farmers to manage crises.
After a period of consultation with the member states and parties interested, the Commission plans to adopt, in spring 2008, concrete proposals on improvements to be made to the CAP, which should not bring into question the European Council agreement reached in Brussels in October 2002 on placing a ceiling on agricultural market spending between 2007 and 2013.
Portugal's Agriculture Minister Jaime Silva, whose country holds the EU Council presidency until the end of the year, confirmed on 17 July when speaking to the European Parliament agriculture committee that member states will launch the debate on this theme after the Commission has adopted the document. He hoped to reassure MEPs by saying that farmers will be involved in the discussion. “This health check does not have to be done behind closed doors”, the Portuguese minister said.
Uncoupling of aid. CAP reform, decided in June 2003, allows member states that so wish to derogate in certain sectors from the general rule of uncoupling direct aid (disassociation of direct aid amounts from the farm's level of production). The Commission hopes to convince member states to gradually phase out such derogations in order to move, in time, towards total uncoupling of aid. It would like to abolish the provisions allowing countries (France and Spain) to keep up to 25% of direct aid per hectare for arable crops. It is apparently not Ms Fischer Boel's intention, however, to question the derogation in the cattle sector (possibility of keeping full direct aid to suckler cows). The Commission is said to recognise the need to prevent this kind of production from disappearing in certain regions.
Milk. Established in 1984 to contain surplus milk production and collapsing prices, the milk production quotas have been extended until the 2014/15 production years by the EU Council of Ministers. Ms Fischer Boel still upholds her view that dairy quotas should disappear from 2015, with transitional measures (such as increased quotas before this 2015 deadline). Jaime Silva does not yet wish to take a stance on the need to do away with the quotas, or not. He explained to MEPs that it is necessary to follow market trends (prices are on the up and the EU is beginning to import milk) and to take into account negotiations at the WTO on the Doha Round.
In addition, the Commission would prefer not to extend the quota regime for the production of potato starch (extended for two years).
Compulsory aid modulation. The rate of compulsory modulation for direct aid has been 5% since 2007 (3% in 2005 and 4% in 2006). The Commission hopes to bring this percentage up by one point per year as of 2009 to reach the ambitious goal of 10% from 2013.
Set-aside. The Commission would like to abolish compulsory set-aside (fixed at 10%) and to maintain the voluntary set-aside of land.
Intervention. The Commission is in favour of abolishing the intervention for pigmeat (not used for over 30 years). In time, it would like the intervention to disappear altogether in most sectors to replace it by crisis management measures (harvest insurance, mutualisation funds). (lc)