COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURE MINISTERS (Hansard, 13 March 1985)

§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Lord Belstead)

My right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and my honourable friend the Minister of State represented the United Kingdom.

There was a first exchange of views on the Commission's price proposals. We emphasised the need for realism, restraint and effective administration and indicated that we would support the Commission in continuing to put the common agriculture policy on a sounder and more realistic footing.

We stressed the importance of consolidating the decisions taken by the Council last year, particularly in relation to milk quotas, where the Council needs to ensure that those decisions are effectively implemented throughout the Community.

We also stressed that the guarantee thresholds which have been agreed for cereals and rapeseed and other products should be implemented fully and pointed to the need to exercise restraint on Mediterranean products where costs of disposal are mounting rapidly.

While supporting the Commission's proposals on a price freeze for beef, we pointed out that it was certainly not the time to abolish the beef variable premium, as its abolition would lead to extra costs to the Community budget. We made clear our 225WA opposition to any measures on sheepmeat that might discriminate against the United Kingdom but indicated willingness to discuss constructively changes in certain aspects of the régime.

I am glad to say that, after a long period of negotiation and discussion, decisions were reached on a package of measures under the Guidance Section of the Agricultural Fund.

The new Community system of investment aids will be simpler to administer, focus on the smaller farmer and take account of the market situation. Member states will be able to operate national systems of aid for farmers not eligible for improvement plans, but at lower rates of grant.

I am pleased that the support for Less Favoured Areas, which is so important to our upland farmers, will remain essentially unchanged. In particular, there will be no limit per farm on the number of livestock qualifying for headage payments. In order to encourage diversification of farming businesses, increased levels of assistance will be available for investments for tourism and crafts purposes, and we intend to make use of them. The regulations will also include a new provision for assisting the planting and improvement of farm woodlands. For young farmers, national governments will be able to aid installation costs and also pay grant on improvement plans at 25 per cent. above the normal rate.

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I was particularly gratified that the Council was able to agree a text on the basis of which member states would be permitted to introduce schemes to encourage, in Environmentally Sensitive Areas, farming methods and practices which were beneficial to conservation. This is an imaginative development, which we have been urging on our colleagues for some time. At our request, the Commission agreed to bring forward proposals before the end of this year for similar measures on a Community basis.

Assistance for marketing and processing projects has been renewed for a further five year period. The Council also agreed that the Commission should bring forward urgently proposals for continuing aid for feedmills in Northern Ireland.

The Council agreed that all these measures could be accommodated within the total figure of 5.25 becu suggested by the ECOFIN Council. This represents a significant reduction on the Commission's original estimate of 8.3 becu, thus securing one of our major objectives in the negotiations. We made it clear that our agreement to this package was without prejudice to decisions that have yet to be taken on Integrated Mediterranean Programmes.

Finally, we raised again the problem of low price imports of semi-processed soft fruit from the Eastern bloc. The Commission agreed to pursue the question with the countries concerned.