Source:  John Strak, MEATINGPLACE, 6/2/11

The agriculture committee of the European Parliament has adopted a report describing how it sees the next farm policy being changed. The committee’s members (elected members of the Parliament or MEPs) indicated that they wanted to see a Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in Europe that guarantees food security at the same time as protecting the environment and using renewable energy. They argued for no drop in spending on farm support in order to achieve these aims.

"Today's vote is the outcome of a lengthy work process that, as usual, involved all the political groups and has now set out the main principles to govern the new CAP," said committee Chair Paolo De Castro.
The MEPs called for an EU wide "incentivization" system, entirely financed by the EU, to support farmers who go in for sustainable production methods and sound management of resources such as water, soil and energy. Direct payments to farmers should be more directly linked to "greening measures" such as low carbon emissions, capture of GHG emissions, and low energy consumption.

They also said that the distribution of farm support payments should be realigned so that the new members of the EU in the east – as well as smaller farms – get a bigger slice of the cake. Additionally, only "active farmers” (those who use land for production) should be eligible for farm support payments.

In a nod toward the French, the committee also argued for measures to prevent speculation in farm commodity prices and a worldwide notification system to defend agricultural stocks intended for food security. Farmers, the MEPs say, need new laws to give them greater bargaining power in the food supply chain, with greater price transparency and less unfair commercial practices.

The committee’s report was adopted by a vote of 40 votes to 1 with 4 abstentions. It will be put to a vote by the full Parliament at the Brussels plenary session of June 22-23.

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