Leaked copies of a document from the European Commission’s budget directorate reveal an aspiration to substantially cut agriculture’s share of the EU budget from 2013 onwards.
The paper says that it is too early to see what the future reform of the CAP will look like, but argues that it should be driven by two objectives. ‘Firstly, it should resolutely pursue the modernisation of the CAP, concentrating spending where it most adds value. Second, it must stimulate a further significant reduction in the overall share of the EU budget devoted to agriculture, freeing up spending for new priorities.’
The paper argues that direct aids should be reduced and linked more strongly to the delivery of public goods. A Pillar 3 should be established dealing purely with climate change.
The full communication is expect to be published in November.
There’s some more analysis over at the IEEP’s CAP 2020 website.
The leaked document looks sensible on the CAP, and other areas, but the big question is what status a document published at the tail end of a Commission’s mandate will really have on the future. It’s been described as a ‘non-paper’ by some and the danger is that unless President Barroso really nails his own personal flag to it, and tie the new Commission into it, the whole budget review process will sink without trace.