Final straight for CAP as farm ministers agree common position
Europe's farm ministers have agreed on a negotiating position for the future Common Agricultural Policy with an emphasis on flexibility to design and implement greening measures at a regional level. Talks were held up by 4 hours during the day due to British concerns over the rebate, but ministers finally came to an overall agreement on the future CAP at midnight last night. Irish farm minister Simon Coveney said: “We now have a clear direction and are on track for the political agreement by the end of June.” The position agreed by farm ministers will now form the basis for negotiation with the European Parliament which adopted its position on the CAP last week. Negotiations between the two institutions and the European Commission will commence on April 11 and around 30 “trilogue” meetings are expected to take place until June 30. Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos said the Irish presidency had done “a sterling job” adding he was “confident that we will be able to meet the tight deadlines over the next few months”. The Commission, Council and Parliament are expected to sign off on a political agreement in July.
Paterson says UK will design its own greening measures
Defra Secretary Owen Paterson has welcomed the Council agreement on the future CAP saying greening must be delivered entirely through its own national scheme. “A one size fits all approach to CAP just doesn’t work. England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales must be allowed the freedom to deliver outcomes tailored to their own circumstances,” said Mr Paterson. He also said the devolved administrations “spoke with one voice” during the negotiations. He continued: “We’re now one very important step closer to being able to set our own greening measures, which work for farmers and use taxpayers’ money more effectively to deliver real environmental benefits.” Mr Paterson also said he was “delighted” to secure key changes to address concerns for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales on issues such as internal convergence and Areas of Natural Constraint. “We will continue to represent the interests of the whole of the UK throughout discussions with European Parliament,” he said.
Key battle grounds drawn up between Council and Parliament
There will be several key battle grounds between the Council and the Parliament when trilogue negotiations begin on April 11. The Council want to end sugar quotas in 2017, compared to the Parliaments’ aim of 2020. The Council wants to limit coupled payments to 7 per cent (12 per cent for some member states) compared to the Parliaments’ position for 15 per cent. The Council wants the ability to charge a penalty of greater than 30 per cent of a farmers’ direct payment for non-compliance with greening, while the Parliament called to limit any penalty to 30 per cent to make greening, in effect, voluntary. And the Council has supported moves for double funding which are opposed by the Parliament. Other battles will be over capping which is included as a “voluntary” option in the Council text but supported as a mandatory measure by MEPs and Ecological Focus Areas which the Parliament said should start at 3 per cent of farmland but member states set at 5 per cent, with an evaluation in 2017.
Defra backs end to sugar quotas
Defra supported the Agriculture Council’s position to end sugar quotas in the 2016/17 marketing year. Owen Paterson said: “Sugar beet quotas are bad for business and bad for consumers. They are driving up the wholesale price of sugar by 35% and adding one per cent to hard pressed families’ food bills. I’m disappointed that they will continue beyond the date previously set for them to end but we have achieved Compromise and fought off calls for the end to be in 2020. Britain’s cake, biscuit and confectionary industries support thousands of jobs and turn over billions of pounds each year. The boom in global demand for western-style foods is creating huge opportunities for growth in this sector which we should not hold back. I’m glad that sugar beet quotas will finally be scrapped and I’m determined to work with the Commission to ensure fair treatment for cane sugar refiners,” he said.
More flexibility on internal convergence
Farm ministers agreed on increased flexibility on convergence of direct payments at national or regional level by allowing member states to move towards partial rather than full convergence by 2019, to limit the first convergence step to 10% of the national or regional ceiling, to employ alternative convergence options, and to apply convergence to the greening payment. The agreement also introduces a voluntary “redistributive payment” which would allow member states to grant a top-up on the basic payment for the first hectares of each farm and in so doing take account of the greater labour intensity on smaller farms and the economies of scale of larger farms. However Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos said the Council had weakened internal convergence too much and that it needed to be “more ambitious”.
Lack of evidence to ban pesticides – UK
The British delegation said there was a lack of evidence to support the Commission’s proposal to ban certain pesticides which are deemed dangerous to bees. The Commission proposed the ban as a follow-up to a European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) risk assessment which found three neonicotinoids – imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and clothianidin – to be “high risks for bees”. The UK was joined by other delegations calling for further scientific advice before taking any action against the pesticides. Owen Paterson said: “I am determined to do what’s right for bees. We should not be rushed into taking the wrong decision based on inconclusive evidence from laboratory tests. Our decision must be based on real bee activity in real fields. The results of our field trials are now being peer reviewed and I have promised to make them available to all member states and the Commission in the next two weeks.” However many delegations supported the Commission proposal for an immediate action at community level where high risks have been identified for honey bees. Because no qualified majority was reached either in favour or against the ban in a recent meeting of member state experts the Commission will now consider the next steps.
Russian ban on European seed potatoes
A Russian ban on the import of European seed potatoes and other plant products must be avoided farm ministers said yesterday. The Russian Federation has become the world's largest importer of potatoes, with imports totalling around 1 million tonnes each year. In particular large quantities of seed potatoes are exported to Russia from the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, Finland and the United Kingdom. Russia is considering introducing a ban on importing seed potatoes from the EU and other planting material on June 1 due to “a lack of information” regarding the phytosanitary conditions of potato cultivation in the EU. In addition, the Russian authorities have a specific demand for having access to the EU market for Siberian pine trees and potatoes. Several member states supported the Netherlands requesting special attention from the Commission on this issue. The Commission has scheduled several meetings with the Russian authorities in the weeks to come in order to come with a balanced solution.