Protests set aside in farm shake-up plan

Date: 17/07/1997

AMID howls of protest from Europe's farmers but cautious optimism from 'green' groups, the Commission this week unveiled plans for a radical shake-up of its most expensive policy.

Long-awaited proposals to reform the Common Agricultural Policy would, if agreed, bring EU prices down near to world levels, reduce the Union's dependence on export subsidies, and move payments further away from price support and towards the type of direct aid first introduced five years ago.

Cereals intervention prices would fall by 20&percent; to 95.35 ecu per tonne in 2000, and compensation would be awarded in the form of a non crop-specific payment.

Beef price cuts of 30&percent; (to 1,950 ecu per tonne) would be balanced by increases in the premiums introduced in 1992. The controversial system of milk quotas would remain until 2006, but there would be a minor reduction in support prices.

Despite overwhelming opposition, Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler is still hoping to set a ceiling on what individual farmers can receive. Member states will also be offered the chance to differentiate in awarding payments, perhaps to take account of environmental factors.

The budget for agri-environmental schemes is expected to be doubled, the Commission will examine how to develop a single system to support low-input farms, and a number of rural development initiatives currently paid for out of a range of programmes will come under the auspices of a strengthened 'guarantee' section of the farm budget.

The Commission claims that an increasing gap will open between the available farm budget and spending needs. This is despite annual additional CAP costs of 4 billion ecu, extra environmental costs of 2 billion ecu, pre-accession aid to applicant countries of 500 million ecu per year, and costs of up to 3.9 billion ecu arising from the accession of the first wave of new members.