Commissioner states it is too early to discuss specific CAP reform measures

IT IS too early to discuss specific measures that may be included in the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.

That’s the view of new Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Dacian Ciolos who plans to visit each of the 27 European Union member states before the end of June.

He has already visited Spain, opened the Paris Agricultural Show, was in Berlin yesterday and will address a conference in Hungary on Friday.

“We are listening,” one of his officials told Irish agricultural journalists at a briefing in Brussels last week as the consultative process intensified.

A blueprint for the development of European agriculture after 2013 is due to be published at the end of this year. But the lobbying and discussions on what future farm policy should be is underway.

Mr Ciolos, a former Romanian agriculture minister, speaking in Paris, said it is important to find the middle way.

However, the new Commissioner was careful to stress the value both of a greater opening of EU agriculture to markets under past reforms, as well as a need to find instruments to stabilise farm revenue and protect the environment.

Mr Ciolos previously told his European Parliament confirmation hearing that farmers want stability and predictability, consumers expect safe and healthy food, and taxpayers need assurances their money is spent in an efficient and transparent way.

He said direct payments should ensure a minimum level of income and the reform should re-balance the way aid is distributed among regions, farmers and member states.

Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Minister Brendan Smith, who met with Mr Ciolos on the fringes of last week’s Council of Ministers meeting in Brussels, said he stressed to him the need for a robust and properly funded CAP after 2013, based on the twin goals of competitiveness and sustainability.

Mr Smith also raised the issue of market management measures, which he said have proven to be essential in addressing price volatility and will continue to have a value post-2013. He said the dairy situation needs to be nurtured carefully and requires a stock policy that is cautious and sensitive to the vagaries of the market.