Agriculture guidelines

New challenges for European agriculture

EPP-ED Group guidelines

for a European agricultural policy
and for rural development policy
in an enlarged Union

James Elles, MEP Vice-Chairman of the Group Chairman of the Working Party 'C'

Lutz Goepel, MEP Coordinator of the Working Party on Agriculture and Rural Development

- having regard to the agricultural market regulations adopted in the context of Agenda 2000 to run until 2006, and to the possibility of the Commission evaluating and adjusting those regulations starting in the year 2002;

- having regard to the need to strengthen consumer confidence in the safety of agricultural products and food following the recent outbreaks of animal disease epidemics;

- whereas this loss of consumer confidence in the safety of agricultural products and food has led to serious losses of income in the farming sector and related sectors;

- having regard to the continuing EU accession negotiations with applicant countries and the Commission's discussion paper 'Enlargement and Agriculture: successfully integrating the new Member States into the CAP' (SEC(2002)0095);

- having regard to the development round agreed on in Doha;

- having regard to General Affairs Council's adoption of the 'everything but arms' resolution (with respect to free access for the least developed countries to the European market) and to other bilateral and multilateral trade agreements;

- whereas preservation of the countryside and protection of the environment require sustainable agriculture;

- having regard to the agri-environment measures in the second pillar of the CAP, especially Council regulation 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the EAGGF which encourages agricultural production methods designed to protect the environment and maintain the countryside in the light of the fact that farmers are the biggest users of the land;


A) whereas the CAP must be adjusted and further developed in response to the needs of European Union citizens, including the agricultural community, and also with a view to facilitating the enlargement of the EU and the successful conclusion of the Doha development round;


1. Basic principles of adaptation of the common agricultural policy (CAP)

1.1 Considers it indispensable for a sustainable and viable agricultural policy to be created in the European Union that offers the farming sector and related sectors long-term prospects and incomes which are comparable to those in other sectors of the economy and not less than current levels;

1.2 Considers that the three core components of the CAP (a unified market, Community preference and financial solidarity) must be maintained - regardless of the need for an economically viable market and a more competitive price policy - without causing a reduction in farmers' incomes;

1.3 Believes that the CAP must consolidate the European model of multifunctional agriculture, which must continue to contribute to economic and social cohesion in the EU, and must be based on an appropriate balance of three main pillars: markets and price policy, rural development and food safety including food quality and animal and plant health;

1.4 Takes the view that the European model of multifunctional agriculture must pursue the objective of environmentally-friendly agriculture, which takes care of the rural landscape, on a par with the other objectives;

1.5 Considers that enhancement of rural development policy should be the main element in the 2nd pillar of the CAP, and that the appropriations set aside for rural development should consequently be topped up without this leading to any reduction in appropriations under the 1st pillar for marketing and production policy; considers, in the interest of the further development and expansion of rural policy, that products of specific quality and origin should also be covered; also considers that rural development policy should be linked to regional and environmental policy; is further of the opinion that the Member States should be granted greater flexibility on policy for programmes in rural areas;

1.6 Believes that the powers of the Commission to intervene to regulate markets must be maintained in order to avoid surplus production and to open up market opportunities for farmers; calls for codecision for the EP on the key aspects of COMs and rural development policy;

1.7 Considers that the CAP should represent the concrete embodiment of a European model of multinational and sustainable agriculture that can be applied in all areas of the Union, while ensuring that this does not result in a re-nationalisation of the CAP;

1.8 Urges the Commission to simplify and clarify the CAP, to reduce red tape and help farmers, and to review, as a matter of urgency, the uniform and fair implementation of EU law in all member states, and to speed up the necessary enforcement process;


2. Market policy

2.1 Considers it indispensable for distortions of competition that continue to exist within the EU to be reduced, and calls at the same time for a greater decentralisation in the implementation of the CAP, while maintaining its integrated character;

2.2 Considers that the CAP must guarantee the continued existence of market regulatory mechanisms and Community preference, which must be adjusted in line with international conditions: also, considers that in order to ensure more market flexibility and stable incomes, innovative measures should be explored, such as crop and income insurance schemes and credit guarantees for marketing and exporting;

2.3 Considers that, in future, the common agricultural policy must continue to help maintain producers' incomes and should encourage more market-oriented production, emphasising the multifunctional role of the sector which guarantees food safety and quality, prevents rural depopulation and preserves the rural landscape (which constitutes 90% of the territory of the Community);

2.4 Calls for any adjustments to the system of direct payments related to the common market organisation to be based on objective criteria without any negative effect on farmers' incomes and calls, in addition, for any resources that are freed up to go back to the same farmers or regions for rural development actions which are solely for the benefit of the agricultural sector;

2.5 Considers that the European Parliament should call specifically on Member States to investigate the use of biofuels and certain agricultural crops as an energy source and the production of renewable primary products by introducing lower taxation; the Commission should encourage the production of vegetable proteins, thereby obviating the need for imports thereof; the production of proteins native to the area and dried fodder would be helpful to the Mediterranean region, in that it would provide an alternative to cereal production and make use of land ill-suited to other crops;

2.6 Considers that the Commission should allow the use of GMOs for agricultural and industrial use, to avoid competitive disadvantages for Community producers with regard to third-country imports; whilst keeping the consumer well-informed in this respect;

2.7 Calls for an ongoing review of the economic and environmental sustainability of all EU production sectors supported by the CAP, with a view to economically viable production;


3. Product quality and food safety

3.1 Welcomes the White Paper on food safety submitted by the Commission, but calls for more rapid implementation of the proposals announced;

3.2 Insists that the EU quality and safety standards in the area of food safety for humans and animals, which will be more stringent in the future, should also be observed by the WTO trading partners and within all specialist international organisations;

3.3 Calls for food quality and safety to be guaranteed at all stages in the food chain for all products, and for the objectives of the CAP to take account of this;

3.4 Considers that the creation of the European Food Safety Authority represents an opportunity to harmonise rules on health in close cooperation with national agencies to avoid uncertainty and alarm among consumers;

3.5 Calls for existing legislation in areas of food quality and safety and animal and plant health to be rigorously implemented and enforced and for the resources associated with these measures, such as the number of veterinary inspections, to be increased;


4. WTO agriculture negotiations

4.1 Supports the common position of the Council on the negotiations, set out in resolutions R5-0108/1999 of 18 November 2000 and R5-129/2001 of 13 March 2001;

4.2 Considers that the EU must adopt a firm position at the next round of multilateral trade negotiations to protect the multifunctional European agricultural model including taking full account of the demands for an environmentally-friendly agricultural sector and the welfare of animals, as provided for in the European agricultural model;

4.3 Calls for the WTO negotiations to take into account the forthcoming accessions and responsibility for developing countries;

4.4 Calls for the issues of animal welfare, the environment and social policy to be placed on the agenda for the WTO negotiations;

4.5 Calls for the EU to ask its industrial partners to open up their markets to products from the 48 least developed countries, in line with the 'everything but arms' initiative;


5. Policy on rural development

5.1 Calls for policy on rural areas to be further extended and diversified, for policies on agriculture, rural areas and forestries to be considered as a single policy entity and implemented accordingly, and calls for policies relating to recognised quality standards for agricultural and forestry products to be incorporated therein;

5.2. Considers that in order to strengthen rural development policy, the second pillar of the CAP should be augmented including resources for agri-environmental initiatives, while ensuring that this does not have a detrimental effect on production and market policy; calls for the continued development of rural policy and for its extension to cover products of recognised quality and registered designation of origin; considers further that rural development policy should be linked to regional policy and environment policy;


6. EU enlargement

6.1 Notes that the enlargement of the EU should scrupulously respect the financial perspective adopted in Berlin, and calls for the costs of developing rural areas to be borne by all structural policy measures rather than by the CAP alone;

6.2 Considers that there is a considerable need for investment in the applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe in agriculture, the food industry and in rural areas; considers it essential that the CAP take account of this specific need, if necessary by means of transition measures of limited duration;

6.3 Considers the Commission proposal concerning enlargement well-balanced, as it remains within the financial framework set by Agenda 2000 and, in relation to farmers in the applicant countries, places the emphasis on structural adjustment rather than immediate direct payments at a rate of 100%.


7. Funding the CAP

7.1 Considers that the funding of the CAP, including the enlargement of the Union up to 2006, must take place within the financial framework set in Agenda 2000 and that a transfer of resources from the market organisation sector to the rural development sector must be possible;

7.2 Calls for resources not used in connection with Common Market Organisations and any adjustments made in direct payments, in keeping with objective criteria and without jeopardising farmers' incomes, to be channelled into rural development policy, and for the carrying-over of appropriations to the following year to be introduced;

7.3 Believes the Commission must take further steps to identify areas of fraud within the CAP budget, and take action to reduce and recoup fraudulent applications.