CAP Proposals Preview

On October 12 the European Commission will officially issue the legislative proposals for the Common Agricultural Policy, which will take force from 2013. However, a ‘leaked’ version of the document has been circulating for the past couple of weeks and generating much discussion.

Slow Food’s first impression is that the EU has opted for the second of the three options outlined in November 2010. This option takes a relatively timid and conservative approach to the reform: the market-oriented paradigm is in fact maintained, as well as the two-pillar structure, with Pillar One dedicated mainly to direct payments and Pillar Two dedicated to rural development measures.

Regrettably, it appears that the expectations of ‘greening’ the CAP haven’t been fully matched by the European Commission. The leaked document reveals an overall reform strategy which is not as strong and as environment-oriented as it was legitimate to expect. Moreover, Slow Food finds the proposed definitions of active farmer and of small farmer to be rather vague.

It must be stressed that these proposals are not yet set in stone. Some amendments may still be made prior to the presentation of the legislative proposals on October 12 and, moreover, there will be room for further changes during the co-decision process in the upcoming months. Slow Food will closely follow the development of the reform process and actively contribute to the debate in order to push for greener and fairer CAP.