Brussels, 12/09/2008 (Agence Europe) - The French Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers presented, on 8 September within the Special Agriculture Committee (SAC), a document containing ideas with a view to reaching a compromise (due in November) on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Health Check. The text aims to make provisions proposed by the Commission more flexible to avoid over-swift transition towards total decoupling of direct aid, allow specific support in some regions or sectors, flesh out the range of risk and crisis management measures, and attenuate the adverse effect of abolishing milk quotas. The SAC will also discuss the Health Check during its meeting on Monday 15 September.
Single payment scheme. “A better distribution of aid to farmers is desired”, the French Presidency's paper reads. To achieve this, member states may choose to implement regionalisation of aid or use the article of the regulation that allows approximate payment entitlements. Both the approximation of payment entitlements and the change from a historical system to a regionalised system may give rise to numerous difficulties making it essential to have sufficient time for preparation. Thus, member states that so wish should be able to decide by 1 August 2010 (and not 1 August 2009 as the Commission recommends) to introduce the regionalisation of aid or the approximation of payment entitlements. Most member states support this aid flexibility but some of them criticise a system that would compel them to choose a model at a given date without the possibility of going back on that decision.
Aid coupled to production and processing. Debates in Council have shown that many delegations wish to extend the period of transition towards aid decoupling (EUROPE 9689). The French EU Presidency suggests reflection should be carried out to “adjust the rate on a case-by-case basis”. It is therefore logical that many delegations spoke of their specific wishes (tobacco for the Greek delegation, potato starch for the Netherlands and Germany, etc.). SAC discussions also confirmed that five countries (United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands and Germany) support the Commission in its efforts to impose total aid decoupling.
Article 68. The Commission suggests member states should, as of 2010, use up to 10% of their national aid ceilings with a view to granting specific aid to farmers - in particular to offset the specific disadvantages that some farmers experience in the milk, bovine meat, sheep and goat meat and rice sectors in vulnerable areas. Also, the proposal provides for some aid (on which there is uncertainty as to whether it meets WTO conditions) to be limited to 2.5% of the ceilings. The relevance of this article is not disputed. Some experts (including Spain, Italian, Hungarian ad Polish) are calling for the greatest flexibility possible regarding the list of subsidies that can be granted in this context.
Risk and crisis management: harvest insurance, mutual funds. The French EU Presidency recommends adapting the articles of the initial proposal to meet the concerns of the member states that plan to use them. As far as harvest insurance is concerned, the existing national provisions in member states are not brought into question (a Belgian and Spanish request among others). Countries that so wish may, according to the paper, differentiate the intensity of aid depending on the sectors of production. The 60% rate must therefore be a maximum. The document also provides for: - the insurance provision to be extended (subject to certain conditions) to animal production; - and the scope of the mutual fund should be extended to the local-scale environmental vagaries of farming.
Milk quotas: accompanying measures. Many EU countries have expressed concern about the abolition of milk quotas (in 2014/2015), mainly in a number of fragile and less competitive areas (such as the mountainous regions). The paper points out that Article 68 offers several possibilities for supporting dairy production (revaluation of rights to payments or the granting of specific aid, etc.). The French EU Presidency suggests measures should be examined (as part of rural development programmes) to allow the competitiveness of agri-food industries of the dairy sector in vulnerable areas to be maintained. The Dutch and Polish delegations repeated their wish for a significant annual rise in quotas. Member states' experts from Spain and Portugal (and to some extent Italy) urged for an asymmetrical rise in quotas. Some delegations and the Commission representative within the SAC are not pleased with this idea. The system is considered too complex to set in place. (L.C./transl.jl)