Written answers

Wednesday, 20 February 2013

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Common Agricultural Policy Reform

Photo of Nicky McFaddenNicky McFadden (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will outline the specific detail of the new green criteria which will be linked to 30% of the national payment ceiling as proposed by the EU Commission; the way this criteria will affect and benefit farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9261/13]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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One of the key policy issues in this CAP reform is the focus on the "greening" of direct payments, which is provided for in the draft regulation on direct payments. Greening refers to a new payment per hectare to farmers who are following agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment. The Commission is proposing that 30% of the national ceiling be set aside for these payments.

In order to attract the basic payment and to qualify for the green element, it is proposed that farmers must comply with three compulsory green measures. The measures proposed are:

- retention of permanent grassland (with a 5% tolerance) at farmer level,

- crop diversification (3 different crops, minimum coverage of 5% and maximum coverage of 70%), and

- establishment of ecological focus areas (7% of land, excluding permanent pasture, devoted to ecological purposes).

Ireland supports the idea of encouraging sustainable forms of agriculture, which is at the heart of the Food Harvest 2020 strategy, and can support the Commission in its desire to further enhance the green credentials of direct payments. However, I believe it is preferable to do so in a way that avoids adding excessive bureaucracy. The Commission’s proposals give rise to concerns in this respect. There are also concerns that the proposed structure of the greening payment, which will comprise 30% of the annual national ceiling for direct payments, would hasten the movement towards uniform national or regional payment rates. In addition, there are practical difficulties with the three greening criteria proposed that need to be resolved. Almost all Member States share these concerns.

Negotiations on greening are still in train so that it is not possible at this point in time to outline the specific detail of the arrangements that will apply. Efforts to agree a common approach in the EU Council of Agriculture Ministers to greening have focused on the need to maximise flexibility for Member States in the implementation of the three criteria, and to allow other environmentally beneficial activities, namely, participation in agri-environmental and national sustainability schemes, to qualify as "green by definition".

As regards the three criteria, there is resistance to maintaining permanent grassland at individual farm level as proposed by the Commission, there is a general preference for a higher threshold than 3 hectares for crop diversification and to have a two-crop rule for smaller farms, and on ecological focus areas, the discussion is centring on whether there should be a reduction of the 7% requirement or an increase in the qualifying areas, as well as an increase in the 3 hectare threshold.

A number of Member States want greening to be optional, i.e. that if a farmer did not meet his/her greening obligations, they would forfeit the green payment but suffer no further penalty on the basic direct payment. There is also the question of whether the greening requirements should be incorporated into what is known as the Pillar 2 baseline, beyond which farmers would have to satisfy additional environmental criteria in order to receive Pillar 2 payments.

Finally, an important issue from an Irish perspective is whether the greening payment is a flat-rate payment. We would prefer the greening payment to be a percentage of each individual farmer’s payment rather than a flat rate. This is also a key component of the Irish alternative model for the internal convergence of direct payments within Member States.

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