CAP reforms spark green debate
For poor countries , inundated with dumped EU surplus product, the debate has a totally different meaning.
The fact that 80% of the farm budget goes to the top 20% of farmers also places the hype in a different context.
For the Government, the reforms could not have come at a worse time given the re-run due on Nice in November. Minister for Agriculture Joe Walsh hot-footed it to Brussels yesterday to join ranks with the French to oppose any changes in CAP. A spokesman said he had major difficulties with any proposed reform of the CAP at this stage.
In all that has been written, those on the fringes struggling to keep a foothold probably have more to worry about in the long term than the top 20% who stand to lose most financially.
But until the precise mechanics are spelled out, it is difficult to judge the overall impact of the reforms.
France’s Jacques Chirac dismissed the reforms as a “charade” by the Germans, Dutch and the UK to save money. He warned he would not sacrifice his country’s pre-eminent position in agriculture “for reasons that do not appear justified to me”.
Clearly Mr Walsh takes an equally grave view, if he insists on backing the French in blocking the reforms. It would be interesting to know why he is so opposed if, as he said, we still do not know where the axe will fall.
The reality is that the proposed changes represent the first serious move to change the nature of agriculture support since the EU’s foundation.
Pragmatism says it has to move irrespective of whether Germany pays just 2% of its GDP into the EU Budget. Why should it pay 2%? Does it owe the rest of Europe a living indefinitely?
The other wider view is that intensive farming is hostile to the environment and no longer justifiable given that Europe is producing far more food than it consumes. And that which it cannot consume is being dumped in struggling poor countries, making it virtually impossible for them to develop a production base of their own.
In that context, the Fischler plan looks set to stimulate a debate around the broader issues of agriculture.
With Irish agriculture going though a bad year given the atrocious weather, it is understandable that farmers are resisting the moves.
As the details of the changes emerge, the Government may have great difficulty getting farmers to realise that voting for Nice does not damage their long-term interests.
