"There is a future for a strong and efficient CAP," said Jean-Luc Demarty, director general at the Commission's department for agriculture and rural development, responding to those who question the necessity of a common EU agriculture policy.
Speaking on Wednesday (1 July) at an event on agriculture and development, Demarty emphasised that agriculture was not like any other policy. Without support, he warned that EU farming would move towards centralised and intensified production in places where conditions are best, damaging the environment and leading to desertification of other farm areas across Europe.
While he said farm budgets are bound to decrease, "substantial community funds" for rural development are necessary, he indicated.
A safety net to guarantee farmer income is also needed, Demarty stressed. Such a safety net shouldn't, however, be "too distortive" and the financial burden of income guarantee could be divided between the EU and its 27 member states, he added.
Differences in the levels of EU payments to farmers from old and new member states "cannot be justified in the long run", Demarty said, suggesting a move towards a single average level of payment across all EU member states. The current average direct payment to farmers is €260 per hectare, but according to Demarty it will not be possible to keep it at that level.
In addition to direct income support from this EU "common base", member states would then complement the remainder, considering the salary structure of their countries' economies, in order to avoid distortion in income levels.
"We need a certain level of burden sharing but a common minimum contribution from the EU is necessary as otherwise member states will just do whatever they want," Demarty said.
He suggested that member states' contribution to income could be done through remunerating farmers for the delivery of targeted public goods, such as protection of biodiversity and the cultural landscape.
Last month, EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said that the concept of "public goods in agriculture" should be explored while debating the CAP reform, but that it first needed to be properly defined (EurActiv 03/06/09).
