EU Parliament could give CAP reform a bumpy ride

The reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy could be in for a bumpy ride when they come before the European Parliament. At the recent conference of the National Farmers Union in the UK, the reforms that have been proposed by the European Commission were severely questioned by the farmer representatives.

The UK politicians including the Secretary of State for Environment, Caroline Spelman, and the farming minister Jim Paice, also pledged to ensure the reforms would not penalise British farmers. And the agriculture commissioner Dacian Ciolos said the greening of the Common Agricultural Policy would take into account measures that have already been taken to encourage biodiversity and schemes that look towards the ecology in sustainable farming. Read more ...

Cap reform proposals attacked by farmersand the NFU

The National Farmers Union (NFU) and farmers have attacked the cap reforms, Gail Soutar, senior CAP and International Advisor to the NFU told the conference that the greening proposals contained in the CAP reforms proposed by the European Commission are far from perfect. She said "the greening of direct payments in the CAP is inevitable and there is a role for the environment in the reforms of the CAP, but it has to be introduced without affecting production".

However, she said "that British farmers and those who are already involved in environmentally friendly production systems would be disadvantaged by three aspects of the current greening proposals in the reforms, crop diversification, retention of permanent grasslands and the seven percent ecological focus areas. Read more ...