Common Agricultural Policy (Hansard, 12 June 1986)

§ 8. Mr. Thurnham
asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent representations he has received about reform of the common agricultural policy.

§ Mr. Jopling
My hon. Friend will not be surprised to know that I receive many representations from individuals and organisations about the common agricultural policy.

§ Mr. Thurnham
Is my right hon. Friend aware that what Bob Geldof raised last year——

§ Mr. Campbell-Savours
Sir Robert Geldof——

§ Mr. Thurnham
—the EEC wastes each week in dumping and destroying food? Why cannot British pensioners have British butter at 15p a pound, instead of it being given to the Russians? Now that the Russians have poisoned their meat produce with radiation, should they not pay a proper price for our meat?

§ Mr. Jopling
The latest Commission proposal, which we have only just received, suggests, disappointingly on the Commission's figures, that the revised scheme for butter disposal would deal with only about 30,000 tonnes of butter in the Community as a whole. We have not yet had proper discussions of the proposal in Brussels, and we need to have a number of points clarified before we can take a final view on how to react.

§ Mr. Kirkwood
Will the Government take careful account of the importance of less-favoured area status within the CAP in terms of any future reform? Will they look carefully at the extensive extension granted recently in West Germany and consider similar proposals for extentions in other areas, such as Scotland?

§ Mr. Jopling
The hon. Gentleman will recall that only about a year ago we were able to achieve the great success of enlarging the less-favoured areas in the United Kingdom, which brought about 28,000 additional farms into less-favoured area status. That has been most warmly received by the industry. Regarding the recently agreed German extension, the hon. Gentleman will recall that it was carried out under the guidelines laid down by the Commission and the Council. We are considering the possibility of further adjustments to our areas with this status and we are at present working towards that possibility.

§ Sir John Farr
Does my right hon. Friend agree that in any reform of the CAP we should aim for a modest surplus to be produced at home by British farmers, and that the best way of controlling that surplus is by pressing on wih the set-aside programme, which will provide farmers with a working income at less than the present great cost of storing the surpluses produced?

§ Mr. Jopling
I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend for his warm support of our ideas on the set-aside programme. They are gaining support. I am particularly interested to hear that the German Government are proposing a pilot scheme along these lines in Lower Saxony. My hon. Friend is absolutely right in saying that we should aim at a modest surplus, so that the chances of food shortages are reduced to a negligible level.

§ Mr. John
As the right hon. Gentleman is basking in the support of the hon. Member for Harborough (Sir J. Farr) for the set-aside programme, may we have some details rather than general statements about how and in what form the set-aside programme will work? At column 245 of the report of our previous Agriculture Questions on 8 May the Minister appeared to say that the cause of surpluses was bad management and that no change in the principles of the CAP was necessary. Is that still his view? If so, is that how he will approach his presidency of the Council of Agriculture Ministers?

§ Mr. Jopling
Yes, most certainly. I have taken the view, as have Labour Ministers before me, that the principles of the common agricultural policy, in endeavouring to ensure that there are adequate supplies of food at reasonable prices for the housewife while providing a fair return for the farmer, are good principles to start with. The tragic mistake was the way in which the Council of Agriculture Ministers, over the years, but especially during the early 1980s, despite British protestations, has reached for the cheque book whenever there have been difficulties. It has allowed massive price increases, which could lead only to huge food surpluses and the ultimate bankruptcy of the Community. The inadequacies of management, which ignored British advice, have led us into the present mess.