§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his assessment of the impact in the United Kingdom of Agenda 2000 on each of the agricultural sectors where proposals have been made. [19549]
Dr. John CunninghamFormal legislative proposals to implement the ideas outlines in Agenda 2000 are not expected to be published by the European Commission until the first part of 1998.
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food pursuant to the Sixth Report of the Select Committee on European Legislation's considerations of Agenda 2000 (HC 155-vi), if he will list the environmental and rural development measures referred to in paragraph 2.5; which Commission rural policy and targeted agri-environmental measures referred to in paragraph 2.6 he supports and for what reasons; if he will set out the basis for his calculation of the savings to consumers in paragraph 2.7; and which member states had the difficulties with the proposed level of the cuts in support prices for cereals and milk referred to in paragraph 2.8; and for what reasons. [19594]
Dr. John CunninghamNo. I will formulate my detailed response to the Commission's legislative proposals giving effect to Agenda 2000 when they are tabled next year.
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of its EU budget he estimates would be spent on agriculture if the current Agenda 2000 proposals were adopted in full. [19545]
Dr. John CunninghamThe Commission estimate that the agricultural guideline would stand at 50 billion ecu in 2006 (at 1997 prices), out of total budgetary commitments of 114.5 billion ecu. The Commission envisages that actual spending on agriculture would be less than the guidelines, at 46 billion ecu (at 1997 prices). This estimate includes expenditure in new Member States and on pre-accession aid for countries which have yet to join the EU.
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the United Kingdom will press the Council to review the level of its agriculture guidelines as part of the Agenda 2000 negotiations. [19541]
487W
Dr. John CunninghamDecisions on the level of the agricultural guideline are for ECOFIN, not the Agriculture Council. The Commission has proposed keeping the method of calculating the guideline unchanged and reviewing this in about 2005. The UK will be pressing for agricultural spending to be set well below the guideline, which should be a ceiling, not a target, as I made clear at the November Agriculture Council.
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the way in which Agenda 2000 will affect the prospects for the production of bio-mass for energy usage. [19544]
Dr. John CunninghamIt is not yet clear what effect Agenda 2000 will have on the prospects for the production of biomass for energy usage. While the Commission's paper recognises that renewable energy crops represent a new opportunity for agriculture, forestry and rural job creation, it also proposes to suspend obligatory set-aside and reduce the aid for voluntary set-aside, measures which currently support these crops.
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which proposals in Agenda 2000 will help(a) improve the environment, (b) encourage reduced usage of agro-chemicals, (c) protect wildlife, (d) increase organic production, (e) prepare the community for enlargement, (f) assist the community to negotiate successfully in the next World Trade Organisation round, (g) enable the Community's expenditure on agriculture to stay within its guidelines, (h) allow efficient British farmers to prosper, (i) require environmental objectives to be achieved before CAP payments are made or received, (j) set environmental objectives for the CAP, (k) encourage the production of non-food crops, (l) affect forestry, (m) help the beef sector and (n) affect hill farmers. [19546]
Dr. John CunninghamIn the Government's view, the Agenda 2000 proposals are a step in the right direction towards a market-oriented CAP with less production-related support and more emphasis on agri-environmental and rural development objectives. A CAP which is radically reformed along these lines, as favoured by the Government, should be beneficial in most of the areas identified by the right hon Member.
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the required increase in productivity in each sector affected by the Agenda 2000 proposals to trigger a reduction in levels of direct payments; and what recommendations the United Kingdom Government will make on this matter to the Council. [19539]
Dr. John CunninghamNone. In the Government's view, direct payments should be time-limited and degressive, giving producers time to adjust their businesses to a market-oriented system which does not rely on production-related subsidies.
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if Agenda 2000 is to be fully implemented before further Community enlargement takes place. [19540]
488W
Dr. John CunninghamReform of the Common Agricultural Policy is essential to enable the EU to meet its future challenges, including early successful enlargement. I will use our Presidency to launch negotiations in the Agriculture Council as soon as the Commission's legislative reform proposals appear.
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for what reasons peas and beans will receive supplementary aid under the Commission's proposals for Agenda 2000. [19550]
Dr. John CunninghamThe Commission has explained the purpose of its proposal as being to maintain the competitiveness of protein crops with cereals and to encourage their production.
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish the environmental impact studies of Agenda 2000 carried out by his Ministry or any of its specialised advisory groups. [19542]
Dr. John CunninghamMy Department is in the process of commissioning one project from the Centre for Agricultural Strategy at Reading to assess the implications of Agenda 2000 for land use in England and Wales, using the Land Use Allocation Model, and another desk top study to identify the likely consequences for the environment if the Agenda 2000 reforms are implemented. It is normal practice to allow researchers to publish the results of their work.
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the impact of Agenda 2000 on the countryside stewardship scheme; and if he will make a statement. [19538]
Dr. John CunninghamIn the absence of detailed legislative proposals, the impact of Agenda 2000 on the Countryside Stewardship Scheme cannot be assessed.
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if the removal of crop specific payments for oilseeds proposed under Agenda 2000 will end the requirements for a maximum area for these crops; [19547]
(2) what assessment he has made of the compatibility of the Agenda 2000 proposals for non-specific payments in respect of oilseed crops with existing World Trade Organisation rules. [19548]
Dr. John CunninghamThe compatibility with WTO rules of any trade arrangement can only be definitively determined under WTO dispute settlement procedures. The Commission's preliminary view, which we share, is that the introduction of a non-crop specific aid for oilseeds would relieve the EU from the restrictions on the maximum area of oilseeds laid down in the 1992 Blair House Agreement between the EU and the USA.
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the financial effects which Agenda 2000 will have on the United Kingdom beef sector; and if he will make a statement. [19543]
Dr. John CunninghamThe effects of the Commission's proposals for the reform of the beef regime will depend upon the extent to which the proposed cut in support prices is reflected in market prices.
489W
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at what rate and over what time scale under the terms of Agenda 2000 the Government propose that direct payments should be decoupled from production and reduced. [19537]
Dr. John CunninghamThe Commission has not yet tabled legislative proposals to implement the ideas set out in the Agenda 2000 series of papers. The Government will respond appropriately to those proposals when we receive them.