CAP reform delay expected

Virtually all ministers at last Tuesday’s informal meeting of EU agriculture ministers in Denmark were reported to be of the view that CAP reform will not be implemented on schedule in Jan, 2014.

British Agriculture Minister Jim Paice went public on the challenge, saying, “It is practically certain that we will not be able to implement the reform for Jan 1, 2014.

Observers in Brussels say that delayed negotiations over the new overall EU budgetary framework for 2014-2020 have left CAP negotiators with no clear idea of the overall allocation for CAP, so it is impossible for them to get into CAP specifics, especially the distribution of agricultural support.

Commissioner Dacian Ciolos was quoted on Tuesday in Denmark as saying, “Any delay would affect rural development programmes and may even have an impact on direct support.”

With Ireland chairing the council for the first half of 2013, Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney is believed to be considering an extraordinary summit next February in Dublin to speed up the CAP reform process.

However, commentators in some member states are very pessimistic — with the National Farmers Union in the UK recently hosting a debate on British farming would manage outside the EU — in keeping with British fears of the CAP disappearing in a fragmented, multi-speed Europe after a eurozone collapse.