Tag: CAP reform

Agreement on the first major reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in a decade won political approval in June 2013 after months of haggling over how ambitious the policy would be on overhauling direct payments, ending quotas, and making farmers more environmentally accountable. The long road to a deal means many policies won’t be implemented before 2015.

EU negotiators sealed a deal yesterday (26 June) on future farm policy after months of haggling over how ambitious the policy would be on ending quotas, overhauling direct payments to farmers and making agriculture more environmentally responsible.

Butter mountains and milk lakes. Those were the images invoked in the European Parliament this week by opponents of extending vineyard planting limits and protections for sugar beet farmers.

The European Parliament votes today (13 March) on a future agricultural policy that, if approved as proposed, would step back from a generation of liberalisation moves and ease the European Commission’s plan to set new environmental standards for farming. EurActiv reports from Strasbourg.

Around €100 billion out of a global CAP budget of €363 billion for the period 2014-2020 will be dedicated to the protection of natural resources after last week's agreement on the EU's long term budget, writes Dacian Cioloş. The challenge now is to define concrete measures to make a real difference for the environment and to secure the long term competitiveness of EU farmers.

Germany's agriculture minister described as "absurd" the European Commission's proposals to keep 7% of EU farmland fallow for environmental reasons and she urged it to reconsider.

Environmental organisations that fear the European Parliament and national governments are weakening agricultural reforms have found unwavering support from the EU's farm chief Dacian Cioloş.

The farm ministers of Spain and France have issued a joint statement on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), saying both countries "will not accept" any budget overhaul that fails to preserve the EU's current level of farm spending.

Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Cioloş faced a barrage of criticism yesterday (7 November) over plans to overhaul the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) before a rare gathering of national farm ministers and members of the European Parliament.

The European Commission's long-awaited proposals to overhaul the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) have left most EU politicians and stakeholders disappointed.

Farmers in Western countries such as France could see their subsidies cut by up to 7% as more money is being channeled to Central and Eastern European states. EU farm Commissioner Dacian Cioloş spoke to EurActiv in an exclusive interview ahead of proposals today to reform the EU's Common Agricultural policy for 2014-2020.

Plans to reform the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) do not go far enough to level out differences in direct payments between the bloc's 'old' and 'new' members, said national parliamentarians from the bloc's Central and Eastern member countries.

As the European Commission prepares to publish proposals for the 2014-2020 EU budget next week, environmental NGOs expect the EU executive to put its money where its mouth is: by ending harmful subsidies and steering one trillion euros towards protecting biodiversity, increasing resource efficiency and combating climate change.

The debate on reforming the Common Agricultural Policy has so far ignored the need for generational renewal of an endangered profession, warns Joris Baecke of the European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA) in an interview with EurActiv.

The Czech Republic is strongly opposed to capping EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments for large farms, a stance which has seen it attract a blocking minority with countries such as Germany, the UK and Italy. In this commentary, Czech Deputy Agriculture Minister and former Czech EU Affairs Minister Juraj Chmiel gives the reasons for his country's stance. 

Eastern European countries have waited long enough to get their fair share of the EU's farm budget, said Ivan Fuksa, the Czech agriculture minister, in an interview with EurActiv.cz. He dismissed European Commission proposals for an additional transition period to even out differences in payments between 'new' and 'old' EU members.

The European Commission yesterday (18 November) unveiled its blueprint for reforming the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), proposing to increase subsidies to smaller East European farmers and to link direct payments to environmental and food security goals.

With a wave of post-crisis austerity sweeping Europe, deep cuts to public spending are the order of the day, and for some the EU's much-criticised Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a prime target for cost savings.

The EU's future farm policy should only support active farmers rather than benefiting wealthy landowners such as the UK royal family or Prince Albert of Monaco, according to Pekka Pesonen. The head of EU farmers' lobby Copa-Cogeca spoke to EurActiv in an exclusive interview.

The EU's Common Agricultural Policy should be reformed to allow local farm cooperatives to deliver more sustainable food production, shorter food miles and more economic development in rural areas, Professor Michael Dower told EurActiv in an interview.

Poland's agriculture minister has accused France and Germany of trying to exert undue pressure on other governments in talks on reforming the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) from 2013.

Looking to the future, large recipient countries like France will have no choice but to accept a partial re-nationalisation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) or otherwise risk paying hefty hand-outs to Eastern EU farmers, says Jack Thurston, co-founder of an NGO tracking the bloc's farm subsidies.

Farm aid should be reduced to about one third of the European Union's budget and spending could be shifted towards research and innovation, the EU's budget chief said on Monday (6 September) in an interview with Reuters.

After an initial contribution by the European Parliament, Brussels will play host to a major stakeholder debate on the future of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on Monday and Tuesday.