Tag: CAP reform

The European Commission decided on 16 April to allow the Czech Republic and Slovakia to start implementing its pre-accession farm aid programme (SAPARD).

EU Agriculture Commissioner, Franz Fischler, underlined the benefits of the Commission's proposal for the enlargement negotiations on agriculture in an address to the Farm Ministers of the 13 candidate countries.

The German Agriculture Minister, Renate Künast, has called for a reform of the Common Agricultural Policy to reduce direct support for production, increase support for rural development and introduce national co-financing.

COPA and COGECA, the largest farmers' organisations in the EU, have called for the preservation of the Common Agricultural Policy that is under pressure for a thorough reform because of the enlargement and WTO talks.

Sweden's Deputy Prime Minister, Lena Hjelm-Wallen, stated that all the future EU Member States should benefit from the same level of direct support to farmers as the present members, but the CAP should be reformed. Mrs Hjelm-Wallen's statements reflect earlier comments by the Netherlands and Denmark that a reform of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should be negotiated before further enlargement.

The Agriculture Ministers of the 15 Member States started a debate on enlargement at their meeting on 18 February in Brussels, that also opens the question of agricultural reform after 2006. On the same day, Agriculture Ministers from 12 candidate countries presented their views of the Commission's proposal for negotiations of agricultural issues to the European Parliament Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.

EU finance ministers rejected the Commission's proposal for direct payments to farmers in the new Member States at their first discussion of the financial framework for enlargement on 12 February. Whilst most ministers gave their broad support to the Commission's budgetary package, several Member States insisted that the proposal phased in subsidies too fast, and that the candidate countries should not receive budgetary compensation after enlargement.

Poland's Minister of Agriculture, Jaroslaw Kalinowski, urged the EU on 11 February to reconsider its plan to limit the access of new Member States to farm subsidies. Before meeting the EU Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler in Brussels, Mr Kalinowski stated that Polish farmers should receive full subsidies by 2006.

Foreign Ministers of the 15 EU Member States, gathering for an informal Council meeting on 8-9 February, will discuss the Commission's proposal for the financing of enlargement for the first time. On 30 January, the Commission proposed a framework for financing agriculture and regional development in the candidate countries, to the amount of 40 billion euro for the first three years (2004-2006).

The Commission adopted on 30 January a proposal for the financing of the EU's eastward enlargement that is likely to cause dissatisfaction among the candidate countries. The Commission seeks to delay full farm subsidies to the future EU members by ten years, and full regional aid by three years, whilst the candidates demand full financial support from the first day of enlargement.

The European Commission decided on 12 December that Latvia can start implementing its pre-accession farm aid programme (Sapard). Latvia is the fourth of the 12 candidates to receive EU's farm support after Bulgaria, Estonia and Slovenia.

The European Commission decided on 27 November to allow Slovenia to start implementing its pre-accession farm aid programme (Sapard). Slovenia is the third of the 12 candidates to receive EU's farm support after Bulgaria and Estonia.

The EU Committee of the Regions has called for a greater participation of the cities and the regions in the enlargement process.

A study on competitiveness and incomes in the candidate countries' agriculture, released by the Commission on 6 November, warns against immediate introduction of full direct income payments to the candidates.

The World Trade Organisation will hold its important fourth ministerial meeting in Doha, Qatar, according to Director-General Mike Moore. Mr Moore confirmed on Monday, 22 October that it would be the venue for the meeting despite security concerns arising from its relative proximity to the war in Afghanistan.

Singapore may replace Qatar as the venue for the fourth World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting scheduled to take place next month. Security concerns relating to Qatar's proximity to the conflict currently raging in Afghanistan have been voiced by many governments. Singapore has indicated that it is prepared to host a "scaled down" WTO ministerial meeting.

The EU has issued a warning that trade talks on agriculture are at risk due to the refusal of developing countries to agree to discuss environmental links. The Financial Times reports that Peter Carl, head of the EU's trade directorate, described the trade and environment link as a "deal breaker" in the context of the Doha negotiations. His comment was made in the wake of the draft agenda for Doha that was published last week without any mention of the trade and environment issue.

The European Parliament Budgetary Control Committee has adopted a report on the Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA) which calls for international funding institutions to participate in EU enlargement projects. MEPs would like the EU to allow institutions such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the World Bank to participate in the funding of ISPA projects.

On 20 August, the European Commission approved grants worth 800 million euro for the restructuring and conversion of vineyards. Due to the reforms made to the common agricultural policy (CAP) introduced in 1999, Community aid was made available for 2000 and 2001.

British and German agriculture ministers want to work together to push through a greener future for farms following Agriculture Commissioner Fischler's challenge for more sustainable farming. At the one-day conference in London on 17 July, the ministers argued that radical reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP) was still possible. Mr Fischler had announced last week that reform was not possible until 2006.

European Liberal Democrats propose creation of EU "Food and Rural Policy" to replace "Common Agricultural Policy"