The CAP yesterday, today and tomorow 2015/2016 SBSEM and European Commission

14. And tomorrow? A Food and Territorial Common Policy (FOTERCOP)

Tomás García Azcárate

It’s time to change: thinking outside the box

• Since 1992, accumulation of reforms

• Huge complexity

• Lack of legitimacy

• What we need today is a complete rethink: a food and territorial policy, much more than an agricultural policy

New objectives I

• To ensure a fair standard of living for rural communities, including farmers. Food chain.

New objectives II

• To provide consumers with food at reasonable prices

New objectives III

• To stabilise markets

New objectives IV

• To promote sustainable development: agricultural production and consumption. A challenge for the global food chain

New instruments: First pillar

• All pluri-annual instruments and policies such as:

• - The remaining rural development programmes

• - Fruit and vegetables, wine and other programmes

• - Agricultural research and innovation

New instruments: Second pillar

• All annual instruments and policies such as:

• - the remaining direct payments

• - the remaining less favoured area payments

New instruments: third pillar I

• European Price and Market Observatory

• Food chain rebalancing, including producer organisations, Interbranches…

New instruments: third pillar II

• Food chain rebalancing: competition issues. Promoting private market management as a market calming market, as proposed by the Commission in 1990

New instruments: third pillar III

• European initiatives on promoting better, more balanced and sustainable eating habits, including educational school programmes.

• New rules for public tendering to make easier the promotion of short circuits, local food, organic and other identified quality products.

A policy for ecological transition I

• Remaining direct payments only with activel participation in agri-environmental schemes

A policy for ecological transition II

• Rural environment programmes (more than agri-environment) including organic farming

• European initiatives on eating habits

• Research and innovation

Budget issues I

• Financing only for actions which have a real European value added: financial support for cohesion regions, Natura 2000…

Budget issues II

• One single national envelope per Member State for Pillars 1, 2 and partly 3.

• Identical financing and cofinancing rules for all actions, as decided by the MS based on its priorities

• At least 50% of the envelope for financing ecological transition

• Capping of net contribution to EU budget

FOTERCOP simpler for MS and citizens

• One global national strategy by MS

• Political (and not financial) logic for defining the different pillars

• Simpler eco-conditionality

• Simpler and common financing and control rules

• Outside cohesion regions, all RD without clear European value added financed by national aids

FOTERCOP simpler for EU Institutions

• Integrating in a coherent European cluster, under the responsibility of a Vice-President, different policies (or parts of policies): agriculture, environment, cohesion, climate change, health and consumers, competition rules, food chain.

If you want to know more …

• DG AGRI webpage:

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/index_en.htm

• My webpage:

http://tomasgarciaazcarate.com

• Twitter: Tgarciaazcarate

• Linkedin: Tomas Garcia Azcarate

• Facebook: Tomas Garcia Azcarate