Farm reform – a blot on the EU landscape?

Date: 02/06/05

Two MEPs give their views on the way ahead for Europe's farming communities

Farmers are one of the pillars of the EU community and should not be betrayed in the name of policy reform, warns Seán Ó Neachtain

When Ireland joined the European Economic Community, we were a nation predominately dependent on our rural economy; in fact, our farmers and associated industries were the backbone of our economy. These were mostly small farm holdings, a point worth noting. While we have developed and moved into a modern, dynamic economy, our rural communities still have some way to go. We must not forget that our small farm holdings are still an integral part of our culture and our very way of life.

Once again these small farmers are under attack because once again the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) is under attack, and this time on a number of different fronts.

To begin with, the future financing of the European Union budget is currently on the table for discussion. I would reject the move by certain member states for a reduction in the financing of the EU from the 1.14% of gross national income (GNI) initially proposed by the European Commission.

Next there are suggestions being made to use this opportunity to introduce co-financing of the CAP. This is something that has never been, is not and never will be acceptable to those of us who are committed to defending our small farmers and our rural communities.

We should be under no illusion that, in time, co-financing of the CAP would inevitably lead to its re-nationalisation.

I am convinced that such a move would start an irreversible process of rural depopulation and that any changes that would bring that about should be opposed. I for one don't want a re-nationalised CAP where only the rich nations could afford to pay. I don't want a CAP that would be riddled with unfair competition. I most certainly don't want to see our family farms, the very backbone of our societies, being replaced with industrial holdings that would be more like factories than farms.

At a time of fundamental changes in the EU we should remind ourselves that the founding fathers of the EU had a deep understanding of the fact that the creation of a CAP would have a far wider significance than the wellbeing of those who live on the land.

They recognised that it was essential to the Community ideal that hostile national policies be brought together and that a coherent policy for agriculture would provide the required insurance for the social, economic and political stability of Europe's people.

I believe that these principles have at least as much relevance today.

Another area of concern to me is the outcome of negotiations in the World Trade Organization Organization (WTO) in relation to agriculture and in particular what it will mean for the future of small Irish family farms.

There can be no question of going back on any of the commitments we have entered into with our farmers. There can be no justification for calling into question the Luxembourg agreement on CAP reform. As far as European farmers are concerned, they have signed up to a reform which I consider to be in cast iron and which remains valid until 2013. They have signed up to a reform that was moved to bring the CAP into line with the WTO. Our farmers need policy stability, not uncertainty, in order to plan for the future of their business and the livelihood of their families.

In a recent debate in the European Parliament, Trade Commissioner Peter Mandleson stated that he "wanted to maintain and protect the rural fabric". Hopefully, this is an indication of his intentions for the Hong Kong negotiations. But this positive attitude is far from being shared by all. To the begrudgers I would say stop biting off the hand that feeds us. We should not forget that every four minutes, about the time it has taken you to read this article, at least one farmer, somewhere in the EU, will have abandoned farming for good.

• Irish MEP Séan Ó Neachtain is a member of the Union for Europe of the Nations group. He is a member of the committees on fisheries and on transport and tourism.

The EU should aim for fair trade in farming at home and abroad, argues Friedrich-Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf

The future of European farming does not depend on more trade in feed and food; nor does it depend on more protection against trade.

If the EU really wants to reshape its agricultural and trade policies in favour of those farmers and rural people most in need - in developing countries and the EU - it must meet fair trade criteria.

Fair trade depends on a political shift from subsidised production and exports of food to integrated rural development which creates jobs and quality food.

The EU is unable to compete with the US or Australia or Brazil; these countries are net exporters of food.

The EU is and will be a net importer of food; still it exports food, based on export subsidies. Cutting export subsidies is the first step; investing into sustainable food production and fair trade rules is the second. Struggling for fair trade in the World Trade Organization (WTO) is the third.

In order to support the developing countries, social, environmental and food security standards must become part of future trade rules. Free market access is no solution.

I suggest qualified market access, which guides the added value produced in agriculture and rural economies towards those who need support: the rural poor. This concept was introduced in the European Parliament's trade debate by the Greens and has since been adopted in various resolutions.

The basic idea is that the EU or any other WTO partner can apply levies on imported products which contravene social or ecological standards which farmers or industries have to fulfil in the importing country. Money from these levies will fuel an international rural development fund to support countries and regions to meet these standards.

The latest CAP reform has obliged European farmers to make concessions for the current WTO negotiations. And it was a significant step for EU farmers to leave the logic of production subsidies.

But the single farm payment scheme should not be based on historical references, it should reallocate payments from farms which are already competitive to those which are still economically disadvantaged and more focused on the preservation and use of grassland, diverse landscapes, genetic resources and which can provide employment. In a multifunctional European agriculture, farmers should get payments for the positive impacts agriculture and rural economies contribute to the society. Besides a qualified market access, we need to qualify ourselves by good implementation of cross-compliance rules and in some parts even strengthening them.

Going away from the product premium also enables farmers to produce what is demanded by the consumers and to focus on specialised markets. Further on, to allow farmers from all parts of the world to establish a competitive production of specialities, the EU negotiators have to insist within the WTO on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin.

Although it is often assumed to be so for farmers in developed countries, free trade does not automatically equal more growth and more poverty reduction.

The reality is more complex. Falling commodity prices as one consequence of liberalised trade is now one of the greatest reasons why poorer countries do not get a fairer deal out of world trade.

If we can provide them market access on the base of an adequate price level, as happens today in the framework of the sugar market organisation, they may really get a benefit.

Mauritius for example, an ACP-country, depended for some time on the sugar import quota into the EU and used the income out of the sugar trade to develop a modern economy.

This can be seen as a model for successful development and trade co-operation.

• German Green MEP Friedrich-Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf is vice-chairman of the committee on agriculture and rural development.

Two MEPs give their views on the way ahead for Europe's farming communities.