Politics before people as politicians can’t do their job
MEPs warned this week that June agreement is unlikely. The Irish government says if no deal is struck in June, reform could be delayed for years.
They could be right, because politicians in Germany will not be willing to let CAP decisions endanger their seats which are up for grabs in federal elections next September. And the MEPs will be even more afraid to make big decisions in the run-up to European Parliament elections in May 2014.
After May 2014, there’s bound to be politicians somewhere else in Europe too worried about their seats to make big decisions for farmers.
It’s the first time that the European Parliament has had full co-legislative powers with national governments on CAP reform. They have been unhappy with member states for refusing to negotiate with them on certain issues stemming from the long-term EU budgeting summit in February, where agreement by heads of state reduced the Union’s long-term budget for the first time ever, cutting funding available for the CAP by about €800m per year.
MEPs have also complained that, in order to put pressure on the MEPs, member states refused to discuss several big CAP issues with them until an end-of-the-month meeting.
European farmers waiting for decisions can’t understand what the holdups are. Their representatives in Brussels say they don’t want a deal at any price, but they do not believe that prolonging the talks beyond June will achieve anything.
They point out that positions are known, all sides just have to compromise.
Otherwise, farmers could face years of uncertainty and instability.
Time doesn’t stand still for agriculture like it seems to for politicians.
Farmers and agri-business have to make important decisions every day, all based on EU policies.
Farmer organisations will make this point over the coming week, in a protest at next Monday’s EU farm ministers meeting in Luxembourg (which some MEPS have refused to attend) demanding a positive and rapid decision on CAP reform.
The same message will be delivered from national farm meetings in member states, including Spain and France.
Farmer frustration is understandable, because it is clear to experienced observers of the CAP reform that member states and the Parliament share much the same vision — significantly more conservative and farmer-friendly than in the Commission’s proposal, according to Giovanni Anania of the University of Calabria in Italy, who says the Council and the Parliament are not significantly apart on the most important reform issues.
Nonetheless, he doubts if sufficient time remains to conclude a political agreement before the final reform meeting of the Irish Presidency starts next Monday.
He says member states and the MEPs are very close to agreeing increased payment on the “first hectares”, the active farmer definition, and the small farm scheme. They are close on both external and internal convergence, and shifting funding between farmer payments and rural development, and close or very close on most greening issues except double funding.
Capping of farmer payments, greening penalties and double funding, support for young farmers, may be areas of disagreement.
But the MEPs are unhappy with the funding for the CAP agreed in February — the same agreement which has led to the European Commission cutting 2013 direct payments to farmers by 4.98%, to keep within a ceiling agreed by heads of government.
So the budget agreement wasn’t good enough for MEPs, but is costing EU farmers €1,471.4m in 2013 alone. It will cost them more than €10bn over the next seven years.
It wouldn’t be so bad if indecision in Brussels resulted in the agriculture policy continuing unchanged. Instead, the book-keepers in Brussels are making sure their sums add up, in contrast to the politicians who can’t do their job.
