Strasbourg, 11th March – West Midlands Conservative MEP Daniel Dalton has warned the EU Agriculture Commissioner, Phil Hogan, about the implementation of the new greening measures of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) during a meeting of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in Strasbourg and urged the Commissioner to deliver on his promises of simplifying the CAP in the future.
The new CAP greening measures come into force this year, despite the efforts of Conservative MEPs to delay them for another year, and farmers now have to keep 5% of their land in ecological focus areas, protect permanent grassland and grow at least three crops on their land. This has led to significantly more complex administration both for farmers and for the rural payments agency (RPA). Mr Dalton, who worked on negotiations on CAP reform prior to 2014, highlighted the fact that prior to the last reform the Commission promised to reduce the complexity of the CAP and yet the greening proposals had done exactly the opposite.
He also highlighted fears amongst British farmers that they are not facing a level playing field, particularly with regards to transfers of money away from the basic payment towards rural development and the fact that market distorting coupled payments are now being re-introduced in many other EU countries.
After the meeting, Mr Dalton commented:
"This was a good opportunity to raise the concerns of British farmers directly with the new Commissioner, and help him understand the urgent need for a better, simpler and more market facing CAP, which allows British farmers to compete on a level playing field with their European counterparts."
"The CAP greening proposals were not fully thought out. Rather than complicating the existing single farm payment, the Commission should have focused on greening measures within the rural development part of the CAP and built on the existing stewardship schemes that have been successful in the UK."
"Farmers now face more complexity, more bureaucracy and less freedom to farm as they wish and we have a policy which is no better for the environment than the previous one. Implementing it will be a challenge both for them and for the Rural payments Agency.
"We need fundamental reform, which will free farmers up from red tape and allow them to produce the food a growing global market demands."