When the Commission unveiled its proposals for the health check back in November 2007, the DG Agri spin machine highlighted the proposals to introduce upper limits on the subsidies that are paid to Europe’s largest, wealthiest and most competitive farmers. What got much less attention was the plan to introduce lower limits, at a level of €250 per annum. This could make life even harder for some of Europe’s poorest farmers and shepherds who barely get a look-in when it comes to Brussels handouts. Continue reading “The CAP and Europe’s subsistence farmers”
French reform paper: An exercise in decoding
France has produced a paper on the future of the CAP which is designed to stimulate discussion at the informal farm council to be held there in the Rhone-Alps region on 21-23 September. The paper is very vague, no doubt deliberately so, and interpreting has to be an exercise in decoding. Continue reading “French reform paper: An exercise in decoding”
McDonald's, Lidl and big biotech at the Copa-Cogeca annual congress
The congress will be held at the Espace Léopold complex, seat of the European Parliament in Brussels, which is vacant because the European Parliament will be in Strasbourg that week. It is unclear whether the Parliament has given the space for free, or rented it out on commercial terms. Financial support has been provided by the European Commission, one of COPA-COGECA’s biggest funders, and by EuropaBio, a pro-GMO trade association.
It should be no surprise that the delegates will be addressed by Michel Barnier, France’s farms minister, who is chief ringleader of those who would turn the clock back to the productionist, protectionist, state-planning approach of the common agricultural policy of the 60s, 70s and 80s. FAO chief Jacques Diouf has chosen to stay away and is sending his assistant Hervé Lejeune in his place. Kristen Silverberg, the US Ambassador to the EU, is still considering whether she’ll accept an invitiation to provide a perspective from America. If she does accept, the theme of her address is likely to be fairly straightforward: ethanol tastes sooo good!
On the second day the massed ranks of European farm lobbyists will be addressed by the President and Chief Executive of Dow Agrosciences, a US-based pesticides manufacturer that also boasts a GMO division. European farmers will no doubt hang on every word of the speech to be given by Keith Kenny of McDonald’s Europe. McDonald’s is, of course, renowned for the local distinctiveness and cultural value of its food, the emphasis on seasonality, small-scale production and terroir: the very characteristics that come together in the ‘European model’ of farming and food and are so often invoked by COPA-COGECA’s members as they make the case for greater protection from globalized markets.
A short coffee break will give delegates the chance to savour Mr Kenny’s remarks before an address by Walter Pötter, General Manager of the Lidl Foundation. The precise nature of the Lidl Foundation is a mystery to Berlaymole, though Lidl is of course a well known ‘hard discount’ supermarket with a reputation for union-busting and dubious employment policies as well as having been the target of farmer protests led by the Irish Farmers Association, which just happens to be a paid-up member of COPA-COGECA.
The full agenda, and details of how to apply to be a delegate (a bargain at just €400 per person!) are available here. But do hurry, the registration deadline is 12 September. Berlaymole will not be attending. If the truth be told, your correspondent would sooner gouge out his own liver and eat it, gently sauteed in butter with a few shallots and a sprinkling of fresh thyme. Bon appetit!
McDonald’s, Lidl and big biotech at the Copa-Cogeca annual congress
Time is running out to book your place at the annual Congress of European Farmers, organised by COPA-COGECA, the umbrella organization that attempts to represent European farm unions in Brussels. The two-day meet-up, entitled “Visions for the future of agricultural policy in Europe” takes place on 30 September and 1 October. Having perused the programme, Berlaymole is barely able to contain his excitement. Continue reading “McDonald’s, Lidl and big biotech at the Copa-Cogeca annual congress”
Barroso's poll results – 87% say ditch biofuels target
Several bloggers have noted the amazing disappearing biofuels poll (an online poll about EU biofuels policy that suddenly vanished from the website of the European Commission President José Manuel Barroso without any explanation). Following repeated enquries to the Commission President’s press office that were completely ignored, a more formal approach under the EU access to documents law has yielded a very comprehensive reply from Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, the Commission President’s Deputy Spokeswoman. I can now reveal the results. Continue reading “Barroso's poll results – 87% say ditch biofuels target”
Barroso’s poll results – 87% say ditch biofuels target
Several bloggers have noted the amazing disappearing biofuels poll (an online poll about EU biofuels policy that suddenly vanished from the website of the European Commission President José Manuel Barroso without any explanation). Following repeated enquries to the Commission President’s press office that were completely ignored, a more formal approach under the EU access to documents law has yielded a very comprehensive reply from Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, the Commission President’s Deputy Spokeswoman. I can now reveal the results. Continue reading “Barroso’s poll results – 87% say ditch biofuels target”
World food prices and the CAP
Jorge Nùñez Ferrer of the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels has an interesting comment on the possible implications of current high food prices for future CAP reform in the debate on the post-2013 EU budget, in which he rather despairingly projects that “the French Presidency will seek to strike a deal in the name of world food security to maintain (if not increase) the present budgetary allocation for the CAP for the next Financial Perspectives, similar to the agreement struck between Chirac and Schroeder in 2002.” Certainly, the way the CAP should be reshaped in an era of higher world food prices is a new element in the debate on CAP reform which it is obviously hugely important to address. But Nùñez Ferrer is right to raise a question mark over some of the proposed ‘solutions’ which have gained currency in recent months. Continue reading “World food prices and the CAP”
Do-ha, So-wha'?
The internet silence following the collapse of the Doha Round on 30 July last has been striking. It appears not only the negotiators but also the commentators feel the need for a well-earned August break. In a piece for last Sunday’s Irish Sunday Business Post, I tried to summarise my own views on why the Round collapsed. Continue reading “Do-ha, So-wha'?”
Do-ha, So-wha’?
The internet silence following the collapse of the Doha Round on 30 July last has been striking. It appears not only the negotiators but also the commentators feel the need for a well-earned August break. In a piece for last Sunday’s Irish Sunday Business Post, I tried to summarise my own views on why the Round collapsed. Continue reading “Do-ha, So-wha’?”
CAP killer?
We’re used to the arguments that the CAP’s subsidies and tariffs are very bad for many desperately poor farmers in the developing world, with some going as far as to say that the EU has blood on its hands but now comes a piece of medical research which suggests that EU farm subsidies are responsible for more than ten thousand diet-related deaths among European citizens. Continue reading “CAP killer?”