‘I could have done better’, says Fischler on CAP reforms

By Martin Banks

Date: 10/11/04

FRANZ Fischler, the outgoing agriculture and fisheries commissioner, has admitted that he "could have done better" in reforming the controversial Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The CAP was revamped last year to begin decoupling farm support from production.

The 57-year-old Austrian, who is returning to the Tyrol to take up a teaching job, said that during his mandate both the CAP and Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) were "fundamentally redrawn to adapt them to the politics, economics and public mood of the new century".

"Could we have done better? Yes, of course but we cannot forget that 'politics is the art of the possible'," he said.

Looking back on the second of the two terms he has served as a commissioner, Fischler said: "I have tried to occupy the ground that has been assigned to me, not as a manager, but as an agent of change, because it was long overdue and the best defence of the long-term interests of our farmers and fishermen.

"My decisions have always been guided by a desire to achieve what is best for the farming and fisheries sector. I do not, however, share the view held by some representatives that the interests of farmers and fishermen are automatically best served by preserving the status quo. Advancing is often a better means of defence."

Fischler acknowleged the difficulties the reforms had created. "All true reforms are controversial. Few believed that reform decisions were possible."

That reforms had been achieved was, he said, "a monument to the ingenuity, the open-mindedness, the pragmatism and courage of all players involved".

Franz Fischler, outgoing European Commissioner for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, takes a look back on the reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), both achieved during his second term in office.