Eerste debat in EP over hervormingen Landbouwbeleid gehouden (en)
On 7th November, the EP held its first of three planned debates on reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, thus responding to the European Commission's publication of a draft legislative package relating to the CAP.
The idea to organise a series of debates on CAP reforms emerged at the Informal Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Wroclaw, hosted by Polish Agriculture Minister Marek Sawicki.
The debate was organised by Paolo de Castro, President of the EP Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, in collaboration with Marek Sawicki, President of the Council, and Dacian Ciolos i, EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development. Taking part were agriculture ministers from Member States and MEPs working in the EP’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. The proceedings were opened by EP President Jerzy Buzek i.
The debate was conceived as a vehicle for exchanging opinions concerning the planned CAP reform, with the goal of working out a good compromise.
‘The package requires much more work if the reformed CAP is to be an effective instrument for building a robust, competitive and sustainable European agriculture that is capable of dealing with global challenges, including the growing demand for food,’ Sawicki commented, reaffirming his readiness to continue work on the Commission proposals.
Taking the floor during the debate were agriculture ministers, rapporteurs of the EP Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and Committee members. ‘The Commission proposals are satisfactory as concerns the goals but not satisfactory as concerns the instruments of their implementation,’ one of the rapporteurs opined during the debate.
Summing up the discussion, Commissioner Ciolos noted there was no controversy over the payment scheme to augment farmer incomes nor over the existence of the two CAP pillars. However, the debate participants did have reservations about the concept of levelling direct payments.