European farmers' subsidies remain under new plans

Europe’s farmers will still get hefty subsidies under plans unveiled by the European Commission today for a “greener, fairer, more efficient” Common Agricultural Policy.

The controversial CAP once paid out food production subsidies regardless of consumer demand – resulting in unwanted mountains of grain and butter and wine and milk lakes.

Not only did the CAP mean dumping surplus goods or exporting them at a loss, but it absorbed almost 80% of the entire EU budget.

Today, after a series of reforms, it now costs about €60bn a year – still the biggest single policy but taking up about 40% of the budget.

Now a Commission blueprint for the future CAP says it must be more in tune with modern times.

EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos said it had to be greener and fairer as well as more efficient and effective because “the CAP is not just for farmers, it is for all EU citizens – as consumers and taxpayers.”

He went on: “It is therefore important that we design our policy in a way which is more understandable to the general public and which makes clear the public benefits that farmers provide to society as a whole. European agriculture needs to be not only economically competitive, but also environmentally competitive.”

But subsidies in the form of direct payments to farmers and grants, will stay, despite calls for the sector to be weaned off cash support from Brussels.

The Commissioner says subsidies – originally introduced in the 1950s to ensure security of food supply in the EU’s early days – are still required to protect food supplies and rural diversity.

A UK Government spokesman said: “We welcome the official start of discussions on the future of the CAP. It’s important to consider all options for reform to deliver a thriving, sustainable and competitive EU agriculture sector. We look forward to working closely with all in the EU.”

He went on: “The UK wants to see ambitious reform of the CAP that will enable farmers adapt to the challenges and opportunities of the future. Whilst recent reforms to the CAP reflect the right direction of travel, this needs to be accelerated, promoting greater competitiveness, efficient use of taxpayer resources and effective delivery of public goods.”

Officials said anything which increased the CAP’s complexity or created more red tape would be opposed.

National Farmers’ Union President Peter Kendall commented: “The (Commission) communication does provide a fair assessment of the economic, environmental and societal challenges facing farming and I am pleased that it recognises the importance of Europe to global food security and of farming to the economy, society and the environment. I am also pleased to see that the Commission supports the maintenance of a common European approach to agricultural policy. ”

But he warned a “tiered” approach to farm payments to make farmers less reliant on EU support could be could be “a recipe for complexity, distortion and a risk of undermining efforts to help farmers become less reliant on support.”

Mr Kendall added: “The key long-term strategic challenge is to get farmers to a place where they can depend on the market for their income.”