Brussels, 26/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - The EU27 agriculture ministers reached a unanimous political agreement, on Wednesday 26 September, on the proposal which will help to offset a good deal of tension prevalent on the cereals market since the beginning of the year. The proposal will allow farmers to ignore the obligatory rate for land set-aside, which is 10%, for the autumn 2007 and spring 2008 seedings. This derogation goes hand in hand with proposals on set-aside, which aim to increase the 2008 cereals crop from 10 to 17 million tonnes.
The future of the obligatory set-aside system will be part of discussions on the “health check” of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). The Commission is to launch a reflection on ways in which the positive effects of set-aside on the environment can be kept in place, and it points out that farmers will not be obliged to cultivate land which has been under the set-aside system up to now. If they wish, they can keep the land in set-aside and continue to implement programmes in favour of the environment. Mariann Fischer Boel, the commissioner for agriculture, welcomed the fact that a decision had been taken swiftly to the benefit of farmers, who will thus have “time to plan” next year's harvests.
The Parliament's “yes”. A few hours before the agreement of the member states, the European Parliament approved the proposal of the Commission, with a few amendments. The MEPs suggested that this derogation on the obligation to put land into set-aside should be extended for an additional year (2009). They also called on the Commission to carry out a study on the environmental impact of removing this instrument, which came into being in order to preserve biodiversity, amongst other things. During the debate on the evening of 25 September, most of the MEPs stressed that the current crisis on the cereals market would not be resolved by this proposal on set-aside. The CAP “health check” should, they said, be used to kick off a more in-depth discussion on the market management instruments.
“The EP has shown that it knows how to act quickly… the safety of food supply has become a topical subject in Europe once more and Europe has the moral responsibility to produce more cereals”, said the rapporteur on the dossier, British Conservative member Neil Parish. “The time has come to remove this set-aside obligation. At the same time, we must acknowledge that set-aside has had ecological advantages, and we must think about new instruments”, added the rapporteur, who is also the president of the Parliamentary committee on agriculture.
Speaking on behalf of the EPP group, Dutch member Esther De Lange stated that set-aside can no longer be justified. Luis Manuel Capoulas Santos (PES, Portugal) acknowledged that the EU cannot resolve the problem simply by reducing the area in set-aside. “We must go further and extend the set-aside suspension measure to two years”. “You will have to review the situation in 2008 and make a more general proposal on the future of crop rotation”, said Friedrich-Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf (Greens/EFA, Germany), directing his comments to the Commission. In the view of Vincenzo Aita (GUE/NGL, Italy), the Commission must now carry out a detailed analysis of the increased costs of human food, “which has imperilled many families in Europe”.
Suspension of cereal import duties. Following the agreement given by the Agriculture Council on a temporary removal of set-aside obligations, Ms Fischer Boel announced to the European ministers that the Commission was to adopt, “in a few days”, a proposal aiming to suspend customs tariffs paid for by European operators, until the end of the season (30 June 2008). The European Union is in a very tricky situation, because it can no longer cover its own requirements for cereals, especially those used for animal feed. The temporary suspension of these customs duties will help to increase cereal imports from third countries.
World maize prices leapt 85% between 2005 and 2006. Wheat prices have increased 60% since last year. This trend is having a knock-on effect on many foodstuffs, from pasta to bread, but also dairy products, as cereals are also used as animal feed. The cause of this is climate fluctuations (heavy rain in northern Europe, drought in southern Europe and Australia), sharp increase in demand from emerging countries such as China and India (where dietary habits are changing) and the development of biofuels, particularly in the United States. (il)