"If at the end of the negotiations on the budget for the next seven years the share of resources destined for agriculture does not reach an acceptable level, i.e. to guarantee the food security of the 500 million European citizens, the the Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament will not dismiss its CAP reform project, the common agricultural policy". Paolo De Castro, since 2009 president of this Commission after having been minister of agricultural policies with Prodi and D'Alema, he is very determined on this issue. "As much as the members of all the political groups present in this body", he underlines in this interview given to FIRSTonline in Brussels.
FIRSTonline – Where does this sort of aut aut come from, president?
DeCastro – From the awareness that not only five hundred million Europeans but seven billion inhabitants of the planet are facing a real challenge of the century: guaranteeing food security in a world that needs more agricultural resources than it can produce.
FIRSTonline – How is Europe facing this challenge?
DeCastro – We are designing - despite a general lack of attention from national governments and public opinion - a new agricultural policy that ensures high-quality food production sufficient for the needs of Europeans and competitive on international markets. That it guarantees decent incomes to farmers even by freeing them from bureaucratic procedures and constraints, that it promotes the economic development of rural areas. That it is respectful of the environment and territorial specificities. And that it puts in place tools that can help farmers manage recurring market crises.
FIRSTonline – And where is this new CAP today?
DeCastro – After two abundant years of very intense work, the commission I chair has prepared the texts of four legislative provisions which, all together, will make up the reform which could be approved by Parliament in plenary session in a couple of months.
FIRSTonline – President, isn't that too optimistic with around seven thousand amendments to vote on?
DeCastro – No, that's not the biggest obstacle. The rapporteurs of the four proposals, who belong to the majority groups (S&D and EPP) and the representatives of the other parliamentary groups are working at full speed to merge similar amendments and drastically reduce a large number of requests for changes. So any postponement will not go beyond one or two months. The real obstacles are others.
FIRSTonline – Which ones?
DeCastro – The amount of funds that the budget will allocate to the CAP. And the radically different visions of the European Commission and Parliament on the contents of the reform.
FIRSTonline – What do you say about the size of the funds?
DeCastro – Many Member States aim for a reduction of the 2014-2020 budget compared to the previous one. The latest outing, very recent, is from Cyprus, the current holder of the six-monthly EU presidency, which insists on cutting expenses. And the prospect of reducing expenses is finding attentive ears today.
FIRSTonline – So won't the negotiations between the European Parliament, which now holds the power of codecision, and the European Council, where the 27 member states are represented, be easy?
DeCastro – Sure, it won't be a walk in the park. But Parliament is the only European institution whose members are elected by universal ballot. And that ultimately matters.
FIRSTonline – What are the differences with the Commission about?
DeCastro – The main one is 'greening', the workhorse of environmentalists, some of whose ideas can be found in the latest reform proposal approved by the European Commission. Which, contrary to our expectations, contains almost nothing of those of our last report which obtained the favorable vote of 85% of the deputies in the plenary.
FIRSTonline – Does this mean that the European Parliament is less attentive to environmental protection?
DeCastro – But not even in a dream. We consider the environmental issue very important, but we are also aware of the fact that environmental sustainability cannot be achieved regardless of economic sustainability.
FIRSTonline – So what is the object of the dispute between the European Parliament and the Commission?
DeCastro – The proposal by Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos sets conditions that are too strict which would end up unnecessarily burdening farmers' activities.
FIRSTonline – For example?
DeCastro – The obligation to set aside 7% of the area of each farm, and that (for land of more than 20 hectares) to have at least three crops. Conditions that are difficult to apply in areas of intensive cultivation such as in Italy and in particular in the South.
FIRSTonline – What do you propose instead?
DeCastro – If it depended only on me, I would say no to retirement; but in my role I propose an agreement with a 3% stake. And at least I agree with the proposal of my Portuguese colleague Capoulas Santos to accept 7% but creating ecological corridors that bring together a certain number of companies. And on the three compulsory crops I say: let's raise the bar to 50 hectares.
