COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY REFORM : FRANCE REJECTS VAN ROMPUY'S CAP BUDGET PROPOSAL.

France - the largest agricultural producer in Europe - has rejected out of hand the latest cuts to the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) budget for the years 2014-2020. In a statement, issued on 15 November, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault described the 25.5 billion reduction proposed by European Council President Herman Van Rompuy (see Europolitics 4528) as unacceptable. Calling for a CAP budget that would meet the needs of EU farmers, Ayrault emphasised the leading role agriculture is playing in promoting economic growth, employment and trade in France and Europe. France's current share of the overall CAP budget is approximately 21%.

Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos - the headmaster of the ongoing CAP reform - did not shy away either from criticising Van Rompuy's proposed cuts to the CAP's future budget. "Van Rompuy's paper goes against the efforts to make the CAP fairer, greener and more efficient," said Ciolos in Twitter, referring to the parallel negotiations on the CAP reform. The proposal suggests a further cut of almost 5% on top of the Commission's proposal for a 10%-plus cut between 2014 and 2020 in real terms. "Van Rompuy's paper takes the CAP budget back 30 years," Ciolos added, emphasising that "the hardest hit will be those farmers already receiving the least support".

The Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture (DG AGRI) estimates that the de facto overall reduction in direct payments would reach 16 billion (5.92%) as the crisis reserve (2.8 billion) would be now financed through Pillar 1. In the Commission's proposal, the crisis reserve was off the CAP envelope. This, according to Commission...