European Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos has waded into the debate over the EU budget to criticise the proposals made by European Council head Herman Van Rompuy. Van Rompuy's draft proposes a €25 billion cut to agriculture spending for the 2014-2020 budget period.

image expired

France, the largest producer and single recipient of agriculture funding in the EU, has also rejected the proposals. Prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault panned the draft budget on Thursday, claiming that it "in no way constitutes an [acceptable] basis for negotiation."

Ciolos today said Van Rompuy's cuts would impact most severely on farmers who are already receiving the least support. He lambasted the Council president's proposal to cut allocations for direct payments whilst at the same time doing away with capping of payments destined for the richest farms.

The draft budget was released ahead of the European Council meeting on 22nd November, at which heads of the EU member states will negotiate budget reforms. Opinion over the direction these should take is split, with France and a number of Southern and Eastern states wishing to retain spending at current levels, whilst northern states including the UK, Sweden and Germany are seeking deep cuts to spending.

Ciolos said on Friday, "The Van Rompuy paper goes against our efforts to make CAP fairer, greener and more efficient. It stands to slow the important stimulus for jobs and growth that agriculture is giving to the economy and slows down further investment and the modernisation of the sector."

A decision on Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy is expected sometime after the 2014-2020 budget is announced; the Parliament has refused to begin negotiations until an agreed sum for agriculture spending has been finalised.

Tweet