European Parliament backs Lib Dem proposals for reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (Wantage and Didcot Liberal Democrats)

Wantage and Didcot Liberal Democrats <info@wantagelibdems.org.uk>

European Parliament backs Lib Dem proposals for reform of the Common Agricultural Policy

August 11, 2010 5:06 PM

George Lyon, Lib Dem MEP for SCotland

George Lyon, Liberal Democrat MEP for Scotland, has received the overwhelming backing of the European Parliament for his report which sets out the future reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Meeting in Strasbourg at their last plenary session before the summer recess, MEPs supported Mr Lyon's plans for a more sustainable, fairer and greener CAP.

Mr Lyon's report forms the basis of the European Parliament's position on CAP reform as the debate now moves on to the European Commission.

Commenting, Mr Lyon said: "The Common Agricultural Policy is the oldest, and often hardest, shared policy negotiated between EU Member States. With this is mind, I am delighted that the Parliament's 'grand coalition' backed the reform package outlined in my report. "The reformed and renewed CAP must address the challenges of the new century, putting sustainability, fairness, green growth and innovation at its heart.

"We have resisted attempts by some to water down the package of reform and the report has emerged with a strong mandate for long overdue change. The strong stance taken by the European Parliament will shape the debate and set the agenda for reform. With the Commission having just completed its consultation process, it comes at a perfect time allowing the Commission to adopt the ideas put forward."

Explaining his approach, Mr Lyon wrote in Liberal Democrat News: "To simply abandon the CAP would have a devastating impact on food security, the environment and many rural communities. Slashing direct support payments to farmers would lead to the demise of food production across vast tracts of poor quality land in Europe, leading to widespread land abandonment. For many communities, locally sourced food would become a thing of the past. At the same time, food production would intensify on the good quality land which would lead to serious environmental degradation. Such an approach would cause untold damage to our landscape, the social fabric of rural communities and the environment.

"Most agree that the CAP must be reformed to make it relevant. For many, the major challenge is tackling climate change. Under my proposals, for the first time direct support payments to farmers across Europe will be linked to efforts to reduce harmful emissions. A greener and more sustainable CAP will treat farmers as part of the solution to climate change, not part of the problem.

"This includes making sure the majority of farmers can join agri-environmental schemes to tackle biodiversity loss and encouraging the development of small-scale renewables: biomass, biogas, second generation biofuels, wind and solar power. Our future food security and the sustainability of our food production system must be at the epicentre of CAP reform."

Dacian Ciolos, European Agriculture Commissioner, commented: "I welcome this report. I know that George Lyon has put a lot of work into its preparation and I find his concepts very constructive. We will take these into account when we draft our communication on the future of the CAP which is due for publication in November."

Paolo de Castro, Chair of the European Agriculture Committee, added: "The big challenges of the future CAP are how we can produce more with less. To do this the CAP has to be more transparent and equitable, not just to farmers but society as a whole. This is what the Lyon report sets out and I congratulate George on his efforts."