According to Mr Franz Fischler, the EU farm commissioner, "we need a complete face-lift to give credibility to the Common Agricultural Policy." Those concerned with the impact of the reforms he presented yesterday on Irish and European agriculture need to pay close attention to this argument.
He believes the CAP must be realigned away from subsidising gross output and towards quality products, consumer satisfaction, food safety, animal welfare, environmental and rural development. On balance his proposals are a sensible and welcome step in that direction. They deserve serious debate and assessment.
For many years there was a tendency to conflate the agricultural and national interests in Ireland's debate about the CAP. It represented such a central industry in the national economy, drawing large transfers from Brussels, that not enough critical attention was paid to how that support has been organised and distributed. Agriculture remains a crucial sector of the economy; along with the food industry it sustains employment and income. It is highly organised and politically influential. But its relative importance has diminished; the balance between commercial and other (mainly smaller) farmers has changed, as has that between farmers and consumers.
Such changes feed into the likely reception of the Commission's proposals to reform the CAP. They do indeed go further than the mid-term review agreed in the Agenda 2000 negotiations three years ago. Yet the Commission argues convincingly that this is necessitated by the forthcoming WTO trade round, the EU's imminent enlargement and the growing consumer demand for safe, quality produce after the BSE and foot and mouth outbreaks. Attitudes towards the CAP are also changing in several member-states, notably during the German election campaign; the Commission has carefully shaped its proposals to avoid a blocking minority in the major negotiations to come. Ireland badly needs allies in them if demands for the dismantling or renationalisation of EU farm support are to be successfully resisted.
Radical reform is needed to retain a credible CAP. It should be embraced to prevent agriculture facing the fate of the European coal industry, as the EU trade commissioner, Mr Pascal Lamy, pointed out yesterday. These proposals have been criticised by farming organisations for potentially reducing Irish agricultural incomes by one fifth as subsidies are scaled down. But the Commission intends that these funds would be rechannelled towards food safety and environmental and rural development, benefiting other Irish farmers and rural dwellers. Decoupling subsidies from output would reduce the incentive to over-produce.
These are desirable changes from the point of view of taxpayers and consumers. The impact of these initial and general proposals on farmers will be negotiated vigorously by the Government and their detailed implications examined. The farm ministers will have the final say; but to retain credibility they will need to adapt, not reject, the Commission's plan.