EU farm reforms raise fears remote areas will suffer, says McGuinness

EU moves toward a more market-oriented farm policy and the pressure to cut government spending is raising fears that remote communities will wither, Mairead McGuinness, a member of the European Parliament’s agriculture committee has said.

“There are genuine fears about land abandonment, village decline and a lack of young people in remote parts of the EU. These issues weigh heavily in our debate in committee,” she told the Oxford Farming Conference.

She said policies such as the planned abolition of milk quotas in 2015 are causing concerns among some MEPs, who fear milk production will end in disadvantaged regions.

“Our real dilemma is that we do not know with any certainty how much money will be available for the CAP budget post-2013, and more alarmingly we fear that cuts to rural development will be deep.”

EU leaders were unable to reach agreement late last year on a budget for the 2014-2020 period, which has created uncertainty.

Ms McGuinness also cited tension in farm budget talks between new EU members, whose farmers currently receive lower levels of support payments, and older EU members.

The agriculture committee is due to vote on CAP reform on Jan 23.

“I am concerned that this contentious political issue will divide the parliament, and I expect that the position of MEPs from these countries will be reflected in our vote in January,” Ms McGuinness said.

“In an era of budget austerity, the only way to meet demands of the new member states is to take money from those countries with higher payments — a difficult process for those member states that will lose out, especially if they are net contributors to the EU budget.”

Owen Paterson, Britain’s farming and environment minister, said Britain was the second-largest net contributor after Germany and was seeking spending cuts, with the country borrowing about £400,000 (€491,000) per minute. “Until we starting growing wealth again, we are going to be reducing these programmes,” he said.

— Reuters