On 13 January, Dacian Ciolos gave testimony to the UK Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee on CAP reform.
The Team
Valentin Zahrnt
Valentin Zahrnt is a Research Associate at ECIPE. He is also Director of Zahrnt Consulting & Communication, a service specialized in trade and sustainable development, providing policy-oriented advice and writing, editing, and translating texts. Holding a Ph.D. in international economics, his research interest is centered on trade in food: WTO negotiations on agriculture, SPS regulation, and CAP reform. He has recently written papers on Reforming the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy: Health Check, Budget Review, Doha Round and A Blueprint for Reform of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture. His email address is valentin.zahrnt@ecipe.org.
Recent blog posts written by Valentin Zahrnt
Food for thought against food security concerns
In December 2010, food prices exceeded the dramatic peak they had reached during the global food crisis in 2007/08. But food security is a weak argument for a ‘strong’ CAP.
French environment ministry coming out in favour of a green CAP
The French Ministry of the environment has spectacularly broken ranks with the Ministry of agriculture by publishing its vision ‘For a sustainable agricultural policy in 2013’. The 17-page document does not beat about the bush: it calls for a radical overhaul and puts down numbers. After stormy protests, it has been withdrawn from the Ministry webpage.
For an Ambitious Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy
New declaration by agricultural economists criticizes policy-makers’ status quo bias.
Rural development & regional policies
The EU’s rural development policies are excessively concentrated on agriculture and insufficiently integrated with other regional policies
Which member states pay for wasteful farm income support?
The closer that CAP reform negotiations come to the finish line, the more will member states look at their financial bottom line. ‘How much do we pay, how much do we get?’ That question will concern finance ministers and heads of states at least as much as the objectives and instruments the CAP funds are spent on.
The historic roots of agricultural protectionism in Europe
The historical roots of agricultural protectionism in Europe are deep – going back to the 19th century. Agriculture is not special in itself but a classical example of special interests defending their rents to the detriment of collective welfare.
A tale of two visions
The German government has recently announced its position on the post-2013 CAP – which is at loggerheads with the call for reforms published by its scientific advisory bodies.
The limits of (evaluating) rural development policies
The mid-term evaluation of the 2007-13 rural development programs is underway. Its results will provide crucial input for the post-2013 CAP. But the inherent limitations of evaluation should equally inform policy design.
Who will guard the guardians?
How effective is the evaluation of rural development policy? A practitioner’s opinion and a seminar.
How much is enough?
The level of the CAP budget should be decided by a comprehensive justification of all expenditure not a gut feeling.
EP draft report: Whereas all this is nonsense
The EP own-initiative report on the post-2013 CAP is taking shape as a new draft has become available (dated 24.3.2010). Though it is better packaged, and sexed-up with a ‘green growth’ tag, the content is just as dull and conservative as the earlier draft. The report captures the intellectual deficiency of the CAP-insider bubble. The [...]
EP own-initiative report on the post-2013 CAP
The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development is preparing a report on the post-2013 CAP. A recently published draft is alarming.
DG Agri study: Don’t be afraid of liberalization
A new study shows that Europeans won’t go hungry without the CAP
OECD research on the CAP
Agricultural ministers of the OECD met in late February 2010 – the first time since 1998 – and issued a communiqué that touches on everything and says close to nothing. For once, such an empty statement is perfectly fine. The OECD Secretariat doesn’t need its ministers in order to do an excellent job in providing [...]
The Socialist Revolution
The European Socialists & Democrats have published a position paper (A NEW CAP beyond 2013 and for a longer view) calling for radical changes: a focus on public goods and social objectives, the merging of all instruments into a single pillar, and the shedding of all rural development measures not directly related to agriculture.
The BirdLife-ELO escapade
BirdLife International has made a mistake in getting into bed with the European Landowners Organisation
One year after the budget review conference: What has happened with the CAP reform process?
Until recently, I have walked through Brussels with this grey-blue bag that all participants of the 2008 budget review conference received. In the meantime, it has fallen apart, and I don’t have anything to replace it. This is somewhat similar to the CAP & EU budget debate: the 2008 conference presenting the results of the [...]
The (re-)distribution of CAP subsidies
Just days before the final ag Council meeting under the Czech EU presidency, member states’ positions on the Council Conclusions are still far apart. Things look a lot like last year when France attempted to show the way to long-term CAP reform, while some states resisted any move that could pre-empt the budget review/financial framework [...]
Urban development – the ultimate challenge
Agriculture is special. It therefore deserves an outstanding dose of public subsidies. Or so we are told. But is there anything that is not special? The standard approach of economists (and others who happen to think clearly though writing about agriculture) is analytical: debunking erroneous claims for subsidies. The problem is that rational argument goes [...]
Let’s get concrete and controversial!
Recently, I attended a conference of the British Land Use Policy Group (LUPG) on ‘Securing our Common Future through Environmentally Sustainable Land Management – Vision for the Future of the CAP post 2013′. The first speaker noted that ‘the challenge of the next months is to identify the questions for CAP reform’. Toward the end, [...]
