In his first-ever agenda-setting speech on agriculture, held on 11 September 2007, the French President reached out to France's rural population, many of whom distrust the city-dwelling head of state when it comes to agricultural policy. In particular, many French residents of the countryside think that Sarkozy might take a softer stance toward the EU and the WTO than his predecessors, who have always defended the EU's vast expenditure on agricultural subsidies. The CAP represents 44% of the EU budget - roughly €55 billion in 2007.
Speaking at a cattle growers' convention in Rennes, the regional capital of primarily rural Brittany, Sarkozy tried to divert such anxieties by stressing that he shares his audience's values: "Being urbanite does not mean I don't have an ear for the world of agriculture. Your values, which deeply nourish French society (...) I share them to the highest degree."
At the same time, Sarkozy stressed the need for reform. He announced that discussions would start during the French EU Presidency, in the second half of 2008: "I want to hold a new ambition for this sector which I see as strategic. (...) I want a new CAP." He clearly set out the time-frame in which reforms should take place: "Today's CAP cannot meet the challenges of the post-2013 period." Sarkozy was elected for a five-year term, lasting until 2012.
France had only reluctantly agreed to submit the CAP to a 'health check', due at the end of 2008. In Rennes, Sarkozy argued in favour of higher market prices instead of subsidies: "I want our farmers to be able to make a living of the price of their products."
He added, however, that the level of spending cannot be radically decreased: "The CAP must be established according to an indisputable principle of community preference that meets new objectives with ambitious tools and budget." Part of the spending, Sarkozy said, should go into "stabilising markets".
Sarkozy promised to continue France's tough stance at the World Trade Organisation: "Negotiations at the WTO need to be restarted on healthy foundations and clarified objectives (…) We cannot continue to impose on our farming enterprises environmental dumping, social dumping, fiscal dumping and monetary dumping."
