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If the EU's future Common Agricultural Policy is to enjoy the support of all EU taxpayers, it must be equipped to provide food security and environmental protection, create new jobs and provide renewable energy, argued the EP Agriculture Committee on Wednesday. This will mean keeping the EU agriculture budget unchanged so that farmers have a reasonable incentive to meet these new challenges.
How to make the CAP greener
MEPs believe the EU's agriculture policy needs to gain fresh legitimacy in the eyes of Europe's citizens by providing secure supplies of high quality food, while contributing to environmental protection and renewable energy. It must be adequately funded to meet its new challenges and to give farmers an incentive to use modern, environmentally friendly techniques.
A fairer distribution of financial support
The Agriculture Committee wants aid to be more fairly distributed among Member States and among different categories of farmer. It proposes the gradual replacement of historical support criteria, which have led to disparities, with new, objective criteria.
For example, newer EU Member States currently receive less financial support per farmer than the older ones. In future, say MEPs, each EU country should receive a minimum percentage of EU average payments.
The Agriculture Committee also welcomed the introduction of a ceiling on direct payments per farmer, as is being suggested by the Commission, and proposed that the size, the employment record and the degree of environmental protection of each farm should be taken into full account.
Stability: speculation, crisis management and farmers' bargaining power
Fighting speculation in agricultural commodities is crucial, to reduce extreme price volatility and guarantee greater stability for farmers inside and outside the EU. The committee proposes a worldwide notification system to defend agricultural stocks intended for food security and it supports French proposals made at the G20 on this matter.
Next steps
Draft resolution - which was adopted by 40 votes to 1 with 4 abstentions, and will be put to a vote by the full Parliament at the Brussels plenary session of 22/23 June - is a response to a Commission consultation paper (see link below). The Commission will unveil its draft legislative package in the autumn, after which Parliament will have full co-decision powers with the Council on the final content of the legislation.
How to make the CAP greener
MEPs believe the EU's agriculture policy needs to gain fresh legitimacy in the eyes of Europe's citizens by providing secure supplies of high quality food, while contributing to environmental protection and renewable energy. It must be adequately funded to meet its new challenges and to give farmers an incentive to use modern, environmentally friendly techniques.
A fairer distribution of financial support
The Agriculture Committee wants aid to be more fairly distributed among Member States and among different categories of farmer. It proposes the gradual replacement of historical support criteria, which have led to disparities, with new, objective criteria.
For example, newer EU Member States currently receive less financial support per farmer than the older ones. In future, say MEPs, each EU country should receive a minimum percentage of EU average payments.
The Agriculture Committee also welcomed the introduction of a ceiling on direct payments per farmer, as is being suggested by the Commission, and proposed that the size, the employment record and the degree of environmental protection of each farm should be taken into full account.
Stability: speculation, crisis management and farmers' bargaining power
Fighting speculation in agricultural commodities is crucial, to reduce extreme price volatility and guarantee greater stability for farmers inside and outside the EU. The committee proposes a worldwide notification system to defend agricultural stocks intended for food security and it supports French proposals made at the G20 on this matter.
Next steps
Draft resolution - which was adopted by 40 votes to 1 with 4 abstentions, and will be put to a vote by the full Parliament at the Brussels plenary session of 22/23 June - is a response to a Commission consultation paper (see link below). The Commission will unveil its draft legislative package in the autumn, after which Parliament will have full co-decision powers with the Council on the final content of the legislation.
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/es/pressroom/content/20110523IPR19949/html/A-new-dawn-for-the-CAP-greener-farming-and-more-secure-food-supplies
