HC Deb 17 May 1973 vol 856 cc1678-9
3. Mr. Russell Kerr

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proposals for the reform of the common agricultural policy he now intends to make to the EEC.

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. Joseph Godber)

I have made my general views known on a number of occasions. I now await the report which the Commission is to make to the Council of Ministers for consideration later this year.

Mr. Kerr

Is the Minister aware that this still represents a very bad deal for the people of this country? Will not he press for major reforms in the CAP?

Mr. Godber

I have indicated on many occasions that I want to see amendments made to the CAP. This is entirely in line with Government policy. It is because of this and other representations that have been made that the Commission is having this major consideration. I am told that it will come back to Ministers on the Council, probably in the early autumn of this year.

Mr. Brewis

Is it not the case that although the Leader of the Opposition said that the CAP was not negotiable, by being within the club my right hon. Friend has got M. Lardinois to agree that it should be reviewed?

Mr. Godber

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. It is true that when in office the Leader of the Opposition made it very plain that in his view the CAP was not negotiable. In my view, its principles are not negotiable, but its operation and its various aspects are certainly open to discussion and amendment. This is what we shall be talking about.

Mr. Deakins

Are the Government opposed to the continuation of export subsidies which not only distort world agricultural trade but are very expensive for the British taxpayer?

Mr. Godber

The hon. Gentleman knows perfectly well that these taxes—I imagine that these are the taxes about which he is thinking—are a part of the CAP. I shall certainly not criticise individual aspects here; I shall be criticising them in the Council of Ministers, which is where I ought to make my comments.

Sir D. Renton

Will my right hon. Friend press for production grants, which stimulate agricultural expansion without inflating consumer prices?

Mr. Godber

Yes. My right hon. and learned Friend is right. This is a valuable aspect of the British system, which I hope we shall operate to a greater extent within the Community. This is one of the things for which I pressed very hard at the recent Luxembourg meetings. As a result of that pressure we have now got a commitment, for instance, in relation to the hill fanning subsidy.