Commissioner Hogan needs public backing
THE European Commission launched a three-month public consultation on modernising and simplifying the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on February 2.
The online consultation asks stakeholders 30 questions which aim at gathering the strength of preferences for the different CAP objectives, as well as ascertaining views on how well the CAP is meeting those objectives.
The public consultation is the first step of a process which will continue with an impact assessment of different policy options to be undertaken by DG AGRI over the summer. This, in turn, will lead to a Commission Communication, or green paper, outlining the Commission’s preferred course of action around November this year.
Following a further period of public discussion of these proposals, the Commission will table legislative proposals for CAP reform sometime early in the coming year.
Commissioner Phil Hogan has highlighted two reasons why, in his view, it is necessary to undertake a review of the CAP regulations so soon after the completion of the 2013 CAP reform.
The first is the complexity of the CAP following the codecision process in that the reform gives rise to a need for simplification to reduce red tape.
The second is changes in the policy environment for EU agriculture — from markets and trade to climate change and environmental challenges — which require a modernisation of the CAP. A third rationale is left unstated but may be the most important. Before the end of this year, the Commission must come forward with a proposal for the EU’s medium-term budget for the years after 2020. This proposal will give the first indications of how large the budget for the CAP will be at the start of the next decade.
On the last occasion when the EU medium-term budget was discussed, Commissioner Dacian Ciolo was successful in maintaining the size of the CAP budget in nominal terms because he offered to focus CAP payments more on environmental objectives.
This was the rationale behind the introduction of the greening payment to farmers.
On this occasion, Commissioner Hogan too will want to show that CAP spending is contributing to the overall goals of the Union.
He will be hoping that the public consultation will give strong support to the directions he has indicated the policy should move.
Mr Hogan has identified three priorities that he thinks should be addressed in any overhaul of the CAP regulations.
These are greater market resilience; more sustainable agricultural production; and progress on generational renewal. It is possible that other concerns will be raised in the public consultation, but I will not be surprised if these three issues make up the core of the Commission’s Communication next November.
The online questionnaire is constructed mainly around multiple choice answers from which respondents are asked to choose the three or five which are closest to their preferences.
For example, Question 15 asks “Which of the following should be the most important objectives of the CAP?”
There are nine possible answers including “Ensuring a fair standard of living for farmers” and “Contributing to a high level of environmental protection across the EU”. Respondents