Following a meeting between the French and German agriculture ministers in Berlin on Tuesday (9th October), both governments have called on the European Union to preserve farm spending at current levels. Their calls come at a crucial time, as negotiations over the EU budget from 2014-2020 enter a decisive phase.

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Next week, European ministers will meet to develop the 2014-2020 multi-annual financial framework. The European Parliament has said no decision on the next Common Agricultural Policy will be made until the European Budget is announced, which is still not expected until the end of the year at the earliest.

Germany pays the largest amount into the EU budget and France is the largest beneficiary of farm subsidies CAP spending. The ministers' meeting comes during preparations for celebrations surrounding the 50th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty, which will take place in January next year. The treaty marked the formal reconciliation between France and Germany after the events of World War II.

French Minister Stéphane Le Foll and his German counterpart Ilse Aigner gave their support to European Commission proposals to maintain CAP support at current levels between 2014 and 2020. The ministers stated their opposition to plans, supported by some member states, to reduce the amount of support given under pillar one (direct payments), although they did suggest moves could be made to reduce disparity in the payments received by member states in Eastern and Western Europe; concerns have been raised over the equality of allocation across the bloc.

Support for greening measures

However, some member states and small farming groups have pointed out that changes in allocation of pillar one support payments could go to support rural development or environmental protection, making CAP spending more acceptable the European public who fund it, rather than seeing public money channelled into private hands.

They claim that CAP spending, which accounted for 44 percent of the entire EU budget last year, is rigged to benefit large-scale farmers and landowners who need it least, perpetuating inequality. There is widespread support for moves to cap the total subsidy a large farm can receive at €300,000 and make 30 percent of direct payments dependent on fulfilling certain environmental conditions.

The UK, Denmark and the Netherlands are keen to channel more funds into rural development and cut the total CAP budget. But France, especially, emphasises the importance of maintaining pillar one payments.

The UK government, along with Poland, the Netherlands and Denmark, has supported moves to reduce the CAP budget. However, although the Westminster government has called for more pillar two (rural development) funding, calls to cut support for farmers come from a desire to create a purely market-based European farming sector.

On Tuesday, the French and German agriculture ministers announced their support for greening measures, which conservationists fear are at risk of being eroded under pressure from the farm lobby. They said Greening measures are essential if leaders are to "Strengthen the legitimacy of the CAP and protect the environment and countryside."

Calls to balance supply chain and protect EU interests

The two ministers also expressed a desire to see producers given more power in the supply chain. EU investigators have previously looked into moves to empower producers, who are traditionally at a disadvantage compared to buyers and retailers in large conglomerates. Their investigations have focused on shortening supply chains and strengthening food webs to support local economies, as well as calling on farmers to form cooperatives to better counter the weight of large buyers. This has been particularly successful in France.

Finally, the two stated their continued desire to cooperate and called on the EU and UN to fight against price volatility, agricultural commodity speculation and the harmful effects these have on the world’s poorest. They called for action at the World Food Day meeting in Rome on 16th October.

However, they also asked that the EU "aggressively" protect its agricultural interests in the face of globalisation and trade with other powers.

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