Tuesday 7 February 2012

CAP post-2013 - What others are saying


This extract from the latest edition of Landscope from Smiths Gore gives a view of the direction that the ongoing discussions about the review of the CAP are taking.


Government commitment on greening
Defra has said that English farmers entering or renewing agri-environment agreements can subsequently opt out without penalty if they have to make changes to their agreements as a result of CAP greening.


CLA supports greening of CAP
Giving evidence to the open debate on the future EU farm policy, Professor Allan Buckwell, policy director of the Country Land and Business Association, said that the big theme in the reform is greening and not delivering on it would be a “wasted opportunity”. He supported channelling 30% of resources from Pillar 1 towards sustainable environmental management – saying that it would represent a 5-fold increase in current agri- environment expenditure and make the reform ‘highly radical’ although questioned whether a one-year system is the right one for delivering environmental goods. He said that it is logical that organic farming and agri- environment measures with the same higher environmental standards should be automatically entitled to the 30% allocation of direct payments under Pillar 1.

New argument developing on greening and bio-products
The European Commission seems to be politically manoeuvering to include energy crops and non-food crops for biofuels in the greening proposals for the CAP. Environmental bodies are likely to oppose the move but the Commission has recently published a report stating that the EU is in danger of losing its status as global leader in the field of biosciences unless funding is increased and policies, such as the CAP, support the sector.


Scottish Government consultation on proposals
The Scottish Government is consulting on the Pillar 1 and 2 proposals. 

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