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The Great Simplification Scam

March 27, 2015 ARC

Simplification of the CAP is a hot topic at the moment, and will be until at least May. At the most recent Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting (19/03/2015) “ministers exchanged views on their experiences in the implementation of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The most important issues highlighted as needing simplification in direct payments were the ‘greening’ measures and the controls.” Minister Jānis Dūklavs recalled that “member states supported the efforts of Presidency to agree Council conclusions on CAP simplification in May. Some of the issues raised by the member states require urgent attention as rules will have to apply on the ground already this spring. There are some areas where simplification might be possible through minor amendments to the existing provisions established by the Commission” The momentum for simplification comes from the Commissioner Hogan, who emphasised it in a December speech: “We need to simplify our rules now and cut red tape in an effective way” he said, promising to have made progress within a year. In this speech he asked for submissions on […]

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Do the stats show that farmers are loosing power? maybe not.

March 17, 2015 ARC

“Ms McGuinness’s press release should have congratulated farmers on increasing their share of consumer spending over this period, rather than arguing that their share has been decreasing.” So says Professor Alan Matthews, in a new post on his CAPreform blog. The context for this claim was the use by MEP Mairead McGuinness of EU Commission stats to suggest that farmer/producer power, as expressed through share of  consumer price, is declining in the face of increasing power from further up the food chain, namely retailers. According to the Irish Times, Mairead Mcguinness said “The 2011 figures compiled by Eurostat show that farmers receive 21 per cent, the food industry gets 28 per cent and the remainder, 51 per cent, goes to food retail and food services. Receiving slightly more than one-fifth of the price consumers pay for food is an insufficient share for those who provide the lion’s share of the input. Farmers invest the greatest effort and time of all stakeholders in the food chain and also carry the greatest risks, including weather impacts.” So what is Alan Matthews saying? […]

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–Research community publications

October 21, 2011 ARC

Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation 2012 OECD Countries – September 2012 Achieving Food Security in the Face of Climate Change The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) CAP reform options: A challenge for analysis and synthesis Jambor and Harvey – March 2010 Conflicting demands of land use, soil biodiversity and the sustainable delivery of ecosystem goods and services in Europe Soil Service – April 2012 Direct and Intermediated Marketing of Local Foods in the United States Sarah A. Low and Stephen Vogel, United States Department of Agriculture – November 2011 EU agricultural policy: Responding to the crisis? Stefan Tangermann – 10 November 2011 Future CAP financing for 2014–2020: Implications for the ACP Agritrade – December 2011 Global Food Policy Report 2011 International Food Policy Research Institute – April 2012 Globalising Hunger: Food Security and the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Thomas Fritz, The Transnational Institute – December 2011 Organic farming is superior to conventional agriculture according to 30-year comparative study September 2011 Moving away from business as usual in agriculture Institut […]