With No Final Deal In Hand, CAP Talks Shift To Brussels

Published 26 June 2013 Negotiations on the future of the post-2013 Common Agricultural Policy are to resume on Wednesday (26 June) at the European Parliament in Brussels after three days of talks failed to produce a hoped-for final agreement. National farm ministers, joined in Luxembourg by the European Commission and negotiators from the Parliament, had hoped to wrap up a deal on Tuesday, after three months and more than 40 rounds of meetings on the 2014-2020 CAP. Simon Coveney, the Irish farm minister who has chaired the talks, said late Tuesday that differences remained. Talks that began in Luxembourg on Monday now shift to Brussels. “While it is fair to say that we have reached agreement in principle on a number of issues, we are still some way from an overall political agreement,” Coveney said, adding that the Brussels meeting “will be difficult but decisive.” Negotiators from the three institutions involved in the CAP talks still must work out differences over stronger market interventions to protect farmers incomes from climate shocks and cheaper imports, and continued market protections for sugar beet producers, both issues that MEPs involved in the talks insist on. Germany has objected to giving MEPs a stronger role in overseeing and amending CAP provisions once a deal is reached, but appeared to ease its opposition to pave the way for an agreement. Farm organisations appeared to clinch a deal that would give young and small farmers extra support through the CAP’s direct payment scheme, although large farms would face cuts. The final deal is likely to disappoint environmental groups as national governments have sought broad exemptions to “greening” measures proposed by the Commission. National governments also appeared to win a deal that would allow a gradual phase-in of measures for “ecological focus areas,” or non-farmed plots that are designed to foster biodiversity. The €50-billion-a-year CAP and its complex set of proposals will miss its deadline for implementation next year. The European Commission has prepared contingency plans for introducing the new measures in 2015 and a transitional period to shift from the existing to a new payments scheme in 2014. POSITIONS: “Organic movements acknowledge that the revised Council position slowly steers the CAP towards greener and fairer outcomes. However a weak Pillar 1 greening and still no decisive commitments for a strong and green Pillar 2 show the resistance of member states to deliver a more ambitious and effective reform”, Thomas Fertl , vice president of IFOAM EU , which represents organic farmers, said in a statement on Wednesday (26 June). “Rural Development measures offer the most potential to deliver greater sustainability. While some improvements have been put in place, these will only have a real impact if there is strong financial firepower in the Pillar 2 budget. There is one last chance for the Commissioner and for MEPs to push only for advanced sustainability measures such as organic farming and high-level agro-environment-climate measures to get financial prioritisation under a Pillar 2 earmark in order to increase farm resilience, protect natural resources and to secure long term food security.” NEXT STEPS: 26 June : CAP talks move to Brussels where a final agreement could be announced 1 July : Lithuania takes over the rotating presidency of the EU Council; Croatia become the 28th EU state and a full beneficiary of the CAP 2014-2020 : Next phase of the Common Agricultural Policy Taylor Scott International