On Monday 14 July the European Parliament agriculture committee will discuss its response to the Commission’s legislative proposals for the CAP health check. The committee’s rapporteur is Luis Capoulos Santos, a Portuguese socialist MEP and former Portuguese Minister for Agriculture. His working document, suggests a number of changes to the Commission proposals, notably a hard ceiling of 500,000 euros on CAP payments to individuals, in addition to a ‘progressive modulation’ that would see payments above 100,000 euros top-sliced to provide additional funding for the EU’s farmland conservation and rural policies.… Read the rest
French press for EU summit on CAP
French farm leaders have asked President Sarkozy to organise a Special Summit of EU heads of government on ‘EU ambitions for the agriculture and agri-food sectors.’ Perhaps the word ‘EU’ should be replaced by ‘French’.… Read the rest
Rethinking Less Favoured Areas
The Less Favoured Areas directive is one of the few examples of British influence on the design of the CAP. It was originally conceived as the Mountain Areas Directive with France pressing for a definition that would have excluded Britain’s hills and uplands. But the British emphasis on latitude rather than altitude won the day in 1975. Other member states saw the Less Favoured Areas directive as a good route to justify more cash for their farmers and by 1995 56 per cent of the utilised area of the EU was designated as less favoured. In Scotland, 85 per cent of the farmed area has LFA status.… Read the rest
"Notre Europe" brainstorming
The think tank “Notre Europe” just released a document on the future of the CAP. Notre Europe’s point of view is that because the health check (HC) is likely to lead mostly to short term adjustments, the “real” debate on the CAP is likely to take place before the next financial perspectives. The outcome could be very contingent to the situation that will prevail in 2013 (e.g. market situations). Notre Europe launched a reflexion that intends to look to more structural changes, with a longer term horizon than the HC.
All the members of the (large) task force did not share a common position on this issue and instead of producing a UN-type consensual document, two of the members, L.P.… Read the rest
“Notre Europe” brainstorming
The think tank “Notre Europe” just released a document on the future of the CAP. Notre Europe’s point of view is that because the health check (HC) is likely to lead mostly to short term adjustments, the “real” debate on the CAP is likely to take place before the next financial perspectives. The outcome could be very contingent to the situation that will prevail in 2013 (e.g. market situations). Notre Europe launched a reflexion that intends to look to more structural changes, with a longer term horizon than the HC.
All the members of the (large) task force did not share a common position on this issue and instead of producing a UN-type consensual document, two of the members, L.P.… Read the rest
Health check reactions…
With the Commission’s proposals widely leaked before publication earlier today, there was plenty of time for those who take an interest in EU farming policy to precook their reactions. In this post, which I will endeavor to update over the next few days, I’ll try to bring together a summary of the most interesting responses.… Read the rest
++Commission proposals published++
The Commission’s widely leaked proposals for the health check of the CAP are now available, together with various supporting documents and impact assessments. Analysis and reaction will follow on this site over the coming days. Watch the press conference live at 16.30 Brussels time on this AV link.… Read the rest
US House of Representatives passes 'veto-proof' Farm Bill
Dan Morgan of the Washington Post reports on the legislative passage of a 5-year US Farm Bill, with a sufficient majority in the House of Representatives (318:106) to override any Presidential veto. President Bush had previously threatened a veto unless the Farm Bill would set a new upper limit on the size of subsidy payments and avoid raising any new taxes. He looks to have been outmaneuvered. … Read the rest
US House of Representatives passes ‘veto-proof’ Farm Bill
Dan Morgan of the Washington Post reports on the legislative passage of a 5-year US Farm Bill, with a sufficient majority in the House of Representatives (318:106) to override any Presidential veto. President Bush had previously threatened a veto unless the Farm Bill would set a new upper limit on the size of subsidy payments and avoid raising any new taxes. He looks to have been outmaneuvered. … Read the rest
Commission proposal: more leaks
The Commission’s detailed proposals for legislation in the CAP health check have appeared on Wikileaks.org. … Read the rest