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26 June 2013 | By Alistair Driver REFORM of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that will enshrine the ‘concept’ of greening of direct payments is likely to be confirmed in Brussels later today. EU Ministers, under the chairmanship of the Irish presidency of the EU, signed off its position at a meeting in Luxembourg late into Tuesday night, following two days of exhaustive talks. The Irish Presidency will now take the revised CAP proposals to Brussels to be passed by the full European Parliament in a meeting later on Wednesday. A press briefing is scheduled for approximately 4pm when the parties leading the negotiation hope to announce the broad political deal. This would not be the end of, however, as the detailed legal text is unlikely to be completed until the autumn. In some of the key elements of the EU Ministers’ text: Flexibility has been granted for member states regions to green direct payments in a way that reflects national circumstances. Ecological Focus Areas under CAP greening will start at 5 per cent possibly rising to 7 per cent in 2017 . On top of 10 per cent compulsory modulation, Governments can now transfer up to 15 per cent of funds from their direct payment pots to their rural development budgets, without co-financing the transfer, as is the case now.There is also scope to move money the other way. More flexibility has been granted in the move towards area payments. Member states/regions must ensure all payments are within 60 per cent of the national/regional average by 2019. Member states will be able to allocate 8 and 13 per cent (more in some cases with Commission approval) of the direct payment budget on coupled subsidies. The sugar quota regime will go in 2017. The young farmers scheme taking up to 2 per cent of direct payments will be compulsory. The ‘active farmer’ definition will exclude certain land uses with a negative list. Commenting from Luxembourg in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Defra Secretary Owen said the UK broadly supported a mandate agreed by the 27 EU Ministers. He ‘warmly congratulated’ Irish Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney for his work so far in brokering a deal. “Negotiations between 27 agriculture ministers, the EU commission and the European parliament were never going to be easy. We all have different ambitions for CAP reform and the Irish Presidency has had a really tough job trying to get a deal,” he said.   He said the UK had got its way in some areas, for example ‘blocking a host of regressive proposals that would have meant a very bad deal for British farmers and taxpayers’ but not others. “We want to get the best possible reform for our farmers, taxpayers and consumers whilst delivering a better outcome for the environment,” he said. He said the UK, backed by Germany, ‘resisted every step of the way’ planned market organisation reforms driven by French MEP Michel Dantin that would have taken the CAP ‘back to the dark days of butter mountains and wine lakes, with costly interventions in the market’. “All along I have rejected moves that would increase costs for hard pressed consumers. British shoppers should not have to pay twice for the CAP – once through their taxes and again at the supermarket tills,” he said. He said pressure from the UK led to ‘significant progress’ to improve measures for the UK sugar industry, bringing the end of quotas back to 2017 rather 2020, as some MEPs were advocating. While this will be welcomed by UK sugar producers Mr Paterson said it was still ‘not enough’. Sugar beet quotas are bad for business and bad for consumers, driving up the wholesale price of sugar by 35 per cent and adding 1 per cent on our food bills. The case for better access to cane sugar is still being negotiated thanks to our efforts,” he said. He said there is now ‘absolute clarity from the Commission that each of the four parts of the UK  can implement CAP as they see fit’, he added. “Farmers in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales can be reassured that their governments have the complete freedom to deliver a CAP tailored to their needs and circumstances. This successful outcome is a result of working as a united force with all Devolved Administrations and respecting regional farming priorities. I am pleased we have been able to agree changes needed for all four countries,” he said. He welcomed the ‘further gains’ to secure flexibility on greening measures to benefit the environment and UK farming but expressed anger that UK efforts to block ‘coupled payments at a high level’ had failed. He said coupled subsidies, which Scotland and possibly Wales are likely to utilise under the reformed policy ‘create market distortions, are a poor use of tax payers’ money and discourage trading in a competitive open market’. He concluded: “I hope the negotiations will be completed today in Brussels, providing much needed certainty and clarity for farmers.” EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos said Tuesday’s Agriculture Council gave a negotiating mandate to the Irish Presidency: “Negotiations on CAP reform have made good progress in the past few days, which makes me confident of our capacity to reach a political agreement. We have made important steps forward on each of the four regulations of the legislative package,” he said. “However, there are still open issues on which the European Parliament, the Irish Presidency and the European Commission need to find the right balance. “Trilogues will restart in Brussels tomorrow with the view to finding a political agreement on the CAP reform.” Continue reading →