Your Say

18/07/2005
'No plan behind the Government's rhetoric over CAP reform'
Western Mail

Further reform of the Common Agricultural Policy was described yesterday as a sop to voters and a blow aimed at French President Jacques Chirac rather than a considered policy of the UK Government.

"There is no plan behind the rhetoric," Euro MP Jonathan Evans, leader of the European Conservatives, told a breakfast reception of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors on the showground.

Mr Evans said this was clear from Defra Secretary Margaret Beckett's address to the European Commissioners last week. "When she was asked what Tony Blair meant when he called for CAP reform she could not say," said Mr Evans.

"And when she was asked what the UK's plans were for reform she was not able to respond. Half the commissioners walked out of the meeting at that point because they felt there was no point in carrying on the dialogue if there was nothing to be said."

Mr Evans said farm support remained UK Government policy, and the current reformed system, which has broken the link between payment and production, was legally binding until 2014.

"The agreement has been made and been signed by all EU members and that's the legal position," he said.

"The CAP reform that we are in the process of delivering now is likely to be the one that proceeds, and I don't believe there is the political support elsewhere for any other change. Tony Blair made his remarks at a time of political weakness. Now he is one of the strongest leaders in the world and I'm convinced that there is no current CAP reform Mark 4 plan."

Mr Evans said the current reforms were good for Welsh farming and will help in World Trade Organisation discussions in Hong Kong later this year.

"The EU is on the front foot. We have broken the link between subsidies and production, which the United States has not done," said Mr Evans, who is chairman of the EU delegation to the US Congress."
CLA president Mark Hudson said the reverberations continued over Mr Blair's call for further CAP reform.

"At Question Time in the House of Commons two weeks ago he talked about scrapping the CAP and we all saw red," said Mr Hudson, who farms near Ruthin.

"We wrote to a cabinet minister about that and were told not to pay too much attention to what is said in Question Time. To be told to ignore what is said in what is supposed to be the cradle of democracy is very strange."

NFU Cymru president Peredur Hughes said the farming industry was desperate for a period of stability.
Farmers expect to have to cope with the complexities of the market place but political interference, particularly on financial deals that are 'done and dusted' are undermining industry confidence," he said.

"Arguments over the UK rebate and counter demands for a revision of the CAP budget following on from quite momentous decisions on CAP reform make it almost impossible for farmers to plan their businesses and are premature, especially as Wales and the rest of the UK has effected immediate change but some other member states have still to implement reform."

Farmers' Union of Wales president Gareth Vaughan said it was a disgrace to use CAP reform as a political football.

"Tony Blair chose to use British agriculture as a way of getting back at Chirac about the rebate," he said.

"The deal on CAP reform was struck two years ago and it's only just coming into operation now. This is one of the biggest changes in the history of agriculture and we need stability to get the new regime running properly."

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