Guest lecture: agriculture

By what treaty was the common agricultural policy created?

treaty of Rome, 1957

objectives of the common agricultural policy

promotion of innovation and efficiency, fair income for farmers, stable agricultural markets, sufficient food in Europe, reasonable food prices for consumers

1960

establishment of a special committee on Agriculture

1962-1968

Implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy

implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy

guaranteed minimum prices, interventionism, import duties

CAP bumps up against its limits

Overproduction, high costs and high prices, tension with trading partners, impact on the environment

MacSharry Reform 1992

Reducing minimum prices, replacing price support with direct income support, possibility of agri-environmental measures

Agenda 2000

Further decoupling of support, new member states (2004) do not immediately receive the same support, cross-compliance

Major reform post 2020

merging two pillars into one strategic plan, preparation of strategic plans: one per MS, more flexibility for MS, focus on performance instead of compliance

SCA

Special Committee on Agriculture

Some competences at federal level

food safety, product standards (partial), animal and plant health

Belgian ‘embassy’ to the EU

permanent Representative, regional representatives, attachés

Cooperation Agreement 1994

Belgian coordination of European policy: consultation between federal and regional authorities to define a Belgian position, directorate-general European Affairs and Coordination (DGE)

before the council

preparatory committees and working parties, informal dialogue, checking positions of other member states and stakeholders, coordination of the Belgian position

at the council

support for the minister(s), reporting, informal meetings, monitoring the Belgian position

after the council

reporting

five factors for agriculture’s special perch

was key element for trade-off between France and Germany for EEC, prices tend to fluctuate more than other goods, self-sufficiency in food, EU is agricultural export powerhouse, farm vote

How would the goals of CAP be achieved?

A single market in agricultural produce, community preference, joint financing

How are the goals achieved in practice?

• Farmers same minimum price for their production

• MS shared financial burden of this subsidization

two funds

the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF), the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)

CAP became increasingly expensive because of technological developments - four specific problems

excess production, fraud and abuse of CAP funds, income gap between rich and poor farmers, inflated prices for consumer because overproduction food

Mansholt Plan 1968

encourage small farmers to leave the land and amalgamate farms into bigger and more efficient units

1972

UN Conference on Human Environment in Stockholm

1973

First Environmental Action Program (EAP)

EEA

European Environmental Agency, central institutional body in dealing with environment