UK and Poland in calls for radical CAP reform

Britain and Poland have called for radical reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), ahead of proposals published by the European Commission, expected on 12th October. The two countries share ambitious plans for reform, which go against the direction the EC's proposals seem to take in a steady stream of leaked documents, which have seen the light of day over the past months.

Leaks from the EC show it proposes the retention of a strong Pillar one (direct payments), which will be heavily reliant on environmental measures. Up to 30 per cent of direct payments would be reliant on increasing ecological performance. However, Defra, who upon acceding power pledged the government would be 'the greenest ever,' rejects this approach.

The UK-Poland statement, which was issued today by UK Agriculture Minister Jim Paice and his Polish counterpart Marek Sawicki following an EU agriculture meeting in Brussels, calls instead for the "modernisation of European agriculture to meet the challenges of the future rather than a system that protects outdated practices of the past."

Defra has said it wants to see 'deep and genuine' CAP reform; today’s statement calls for pillar one subsidies to be reduced in the new CAP, to "create a more competitive farming industry that is not reliant on any direct subsidies."

Defra believes this would, over a period of transition, lead to better returns from the market. It believes "any remaining CAP funds" should go to rewarding farmers for providing benefits to wildlife, people and the landscape as part of Pillar two. In a release on the announcement, Defra said the UK and Poland want to see a CAP "centred on a more competitive agriculture sector and better incentives to improve the environment."

The UK has been engaging with other Member States in the run up to the Commission publishing its proposals on the future of the CAP between 2014 and 2020, including Sweden and Denmark at the end of August.