Common Agricultural Policy (Hansard, 23 June 1994)

§ 5. Sir Thomas Arnold
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when she next expects to meet her EC counterparts to discuss the further reform of the CAP.

§ Mr. Jack
At this very moment, my right hon. Friend is negotiating in the Council of Ministers on this very subject.

§ Sir Thomas Arnold
Will my hon. Friend confirm that the proportion of the European Community budget taken up by the common agricultural policy has significantly declined since the late 1980s? However, is not the cost still far too high and should not it be reduced?

§ Mr. Jack
I entirely agree with the line that my hon. Friend takes. The cost has dropped in recent years—from about 80 per cent. to about 54 per cent. of the Community's budget. The United Kingdom is in the vanguard of those seeking further reforms of the agricultural policy and to reduce the costs to Community taxpayers, to increase competition and to bring down food prices.

§ Mr. Tyler
Is the Minister ready to repeat the pledge given by the former Minister, the right hon. Member for Suffolk, Coastal (Mr. Gummer), that the total cost of the common agricultural policy in the current year, next year and the year after will fall progressively, and, if so, by how much?

§ Mr. Jack
Once the proposals for reforms have worked through over their three-year period, the cost of the Community's agricultural policy will have dropped by £8 billion—a saving to this country of £1 billion.

§ Mr. Enright
Will the Minister ensure that the Minister also takes into account the agricultural situation of the Maghreb, the Mashraq and the Lomé countries, in reforming the CAP? He has given half that assurance before and I should be grateful if he would give it fully.

§ Mr. Jack
I know that the hon. Gentleman takes a great interest in those important matters. As far as I understand it, those issues are not on the agenda for this Agriculture Council, but I shall certainly draw the hon. Gentleman's remarks to the attention of my right hon. Friend on her return.

§ Mr. Dafis
Given that there is a need for the reform of the CAP, and in, view of the issues already raised, does the Minister accept that that must take the form not simply of swingeing cuts but of redirection of support? Does he accept, at the same time, that we need a policy that will strengthen the countryside and at least maintain the present level of the agricultural population? Does not he see a system of assistance for the entry of young farmers as absolutely integral to that?

§ Mr. Jack
The hon. Gentleman may be interested in the answer to a subsequent question on the entry of young farmers, because it is germane to agricultural tenancy reform. He talks of swingeing cuts, but perhaps he has not looked at exactly what is happening. Under the present 345 reform package, there is a shift away from direct payment, through schemes such as the intervention fund, for example, to direct payments to farmers especially, which have an encouraging environmental factor. In response to an earlier question, I alluded to the fact that the United Kingdom Government, with their own agri-environment package, will be spending something like £100 million by the financial year 1995–96.