Tag: CAP reform

The European Union's economic crisis will create allies for a British government seeking to streamline the bloc's farm policy in upcoming reform talks, the new UK agriculture minister said on Monday (17 May).

The EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should be reformed in a way that unlocks the potential of rural areas to contribute to the bloc's economic growth strategy for 2020, European Commission officials told agriculture journalists last week.

The EU should force other world agricultural powers to adopt similar environmental rules if they wish to export to Europe, the chair of the European Parliament's agriculture committee, Paolo De Castro, told EurActiv in an interview.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said yesterday (24 March) he was ready to provoke a crisis in the European Union to prevent a dismantling of farm policy, as he sought to reassure disgruntled farmers in the EU's top agricultural producer.

The Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament yesterday (4 March) tabled its vision for a fair, large-scale reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Most EU farm ministers agree that new measures are needed to reduce price volatility of agricultural commodities. But the European Commission argues that any new initiative should only be used as a safety net and should not undermine efforts undertaken to enhance competitiveness.

European farm policy should focus on ensuring viable prices for farmers threatened by volatile markets and falling incomes, French Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday (17 February).

Dacian Cioloş, the EU's commissioner-designate for agriculture, pledged equal distribution of EU farm aid across the EU 27 and fair income for farmers during a three-hour confirmation hearing in the European Parliament on Friday (15 January). His vision for a strong post-2013 EU farm policy convinced members of the House and reassured farmers alike. 

Michel Barnier, France’s newly-appointed commissioner in charge of the internal market, said he would keep the work of his colleagues in the new EU executive under close watch, citing the new farm chief Dacian Cioloş as a case in point.

Liberalising global agricultural trade without any regulation would threaten global food security as private investment funds would buy huge amounts of land in developing countries and produce for profit rather than to feed the poor, Jacques Carles, founder of Momagri, a French think-tank on agriculture, warned EurActiv in an interview.

The European Union should resist the temptation to cut support for its common agricultural policy and instead give farmers the right tools to increase food production in Europe, EU Farm Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel told EurActiv in an interview.

The EU's post-2013 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) may well include a 'third pillar' on climate change and make direct support for farmers subject to the delivery of "public goods" such as biodiversity or sustainable farming practices, according to a draft European Commission proposal seen by EurActiv.

NGOs have described EU agricultural export subsidies as inconsistent with a recent €14 billion commitment by the Group of Eight (G8) countries to assisting farmers in developing countries, aimed at combating world hunger and promoting agricultural development.

Paris and Berlin last week (2 July) announced the creation of a Franco-German working group to frame reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2013.

Future reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should consider the impact of price volatility and speculation on food security, according to a French think-tank which promotes a new world vision for agriculture. 

Europe's farm chief yielded some ground on Monday amid demands for aid to help the European Union's dairy sector cope with low prices and poor exports, offering to advance EU subsidy payments to all eligible farmers. But she rejected calls from small farmers to restore milk quotas. 

Marianne Fischer Boel, the EU's agriculture commissioner, yesterday (23 March) dismissed calls by Germany and four other EU nations to reinstate milk quotas in an effort to support prices, which have plunged dramatically in recent months.

Pointing to the ongoing commodity price crisis and the huge diversity of situations faced by European farmers, Parliament's agiculture committee yesterday (7 October) called on the Commission to scale down its proposed reform of agricultural policy.

Ahead of a meeting of EU agriculture ministers to discuss the future of the bloc's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), EPP-ED group chairman Joseph Daul outlined the stakes and fresh challenges facing the EU in an interview with EurActiv France.

The Commission has rejected the notion that farmers should implement river basin management schemes in exchange for agricultural subsidies, despite increasing fears over water shortages and droughts.

The EU has gone to "the extreme limit" of the concessions it can make to reach a deal at the World Trade Organization (WTO), argues French Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier in an interview with EurActiv France.

A thorough reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is necessary to allow the EU to respond more effectively to rising food prices and internal pressures, according to Ivo Hlavac, the Czech state secretary in charge of agriculture, who spoke to EurActiv France in an interview.

French MEP Joseph Daul, the leader of the centre-right EPP-ED, the largest political group in the European Parliament, has attacked EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson for "going too far" in WTO talks on freeing up agricultural trade, saying it could prompt Irish citizens to reject the Lisbon Treaty on Thursday (12 June).

Soaring global food prices dominated a ministerial debate yesterday (19 May) on how Europe's €45 billion farm subsidy scheme should be reformed. The Commission is due to unveil concrete plans for the Common Agricultural Policy 'Health Check' later today.