POLICY PRIMER

New EU farm plan seeks to put national capitals at the helm

Many doubt that the Common Agricultural Policy shake-up will result in tangible improvements for the environment.

Brussels is preparing to take a great leap backward from setting farm policy this year.

Responding to years of farmers’ gripes that the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy is a Kafkaesque nightmare of excessive bureaucratic interference, the European Commission is planning to relinquish much of the day-to-day spadework of administering the €58 billion-per-year policy to member countries.

According to a draft paper on the future policy obtained by POLITICO, the buzzword for the new CAP is “subsidiarity”: Brussels jargon for turning over control to the national capitals.

The European Commission would simply set out a broad vision for the Continent’s agriculture — on areas ranging from market oversight to environmental rules — but let EU governments devise their own country-specific plans to avoid some of the CAP’s historical failings. While the idea is gaining some momentum, there are big questions about whether the new format will work any better.

The biggest criticism of the CAP, which accounts for a whopping 40 percent of the EU budget, has been that it primarily aided big landowners through a system of direct payments based on acreage at the expense of smaller, more ecological farming. Granting more control to individual countries is supposed to give more prominence to subsidies that come with strings attached. Simply put, both small- and large-scale farmers will face challenges under the new greener CAP as they will have to contribute more to environmental and rural development schemes to earn their cash.

There are other areas where the new structure could prove more effective than diktats from Brussels, and some elements of the current CAP are regarded with almost universal derision. The so-called three-crop rule, for example, requires arable farms across the bloc with plots of over 30 hectares to grow three separate crops in order to promote biodiversity and combat soil erosion.

Farmers have long argued the policy makes no sense since it vaporizes the profits of smaller businesses, which switch crops annually anyway. Even many environmentalists admit that a previous strategy — crop rotation — is more effective. Brussels also provokes anger and distrust by sanctioning farmers who flout the rules.

So the big new idea in the forthcoming reform is to eliminate these highly centralized features of the CAP that just fan farmers’ hatred.

“The current CAP delivery system relies on detailed requirements at EU level, and features tight controls, penalties and audit arrangements. These rules are often very prescriptive, down to farm level,” the Commission said in the paper, adding that diverse climates across Europe make today’s highly centralized system inefficient. “Both farmers and citizens should be enabled to benefit … with a less prescriptive framework,” it said.

Shifting pillars

There are immediate concerns about whether the CAP’s structure is ready for this kind of transformation.

The current CAP is divided between direct subsidies from Brussels to farmers — so-called Pillar 1 payments — and rural development funds, or Pillar 2.

The Commission is seeking to put more emphasis on the rural development cash, rather than old-style, automatic Pillar 1 handouts based on acreage. Brussels says a “new delivery model” will allow countries greater leeway to pull money out of Pillar 1 into Pillar 2.

Theoretically, this increased focus on Pillar 2 should force farmers to act greener to earn their subsidies. The main problem is that Pillar 2 activities are hard to police, and it’s not clear how that would change in the new model. The European Court of Auditors in November found that the EU’s rural development system is plagued by implementation delays and that vague planning means the schemes often fail to deliver quantifiable results.

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Pekka Pesonen, secretary-general of the Brussels farm lobby Copa & Cogeca, told POLITICO that although farmers “in principle” back plans to award more powers to national governments, their experience of rural development policy showed the need for some caution. “The communication only gives direction and the devil is in the details,” Pesonen said.

Alan Matthews, professor emeritus of European agricultural policy at Trinity College Dublin, commented in a recent blog post that the Commission’s plans aren’t likely to reduce bureaucracy for farmers. He added, however, that the idea of repatriating some powers was nonetheless positive and would probably deliver better results.

Green groups like the European Environmental Bureau believe that giving more power to member countries in the area of “greening” — CAP policies designed to help the environment — would do very little to improve the role farmers play in soil quality and biodiversity.

“It is important that the future policy is focused on actual results and delivery,” said Faustine Bas-Defossez, a policy expert for agriculture at the EEB. She added that allowing flexibility for countries to adapt to differing needs was used in the past as a “smokescreen to systematically water down environmental ambition.”

“Member states cannot have more freedom and flexibility without there being a strong and robust accountability mechanism to ensure the policy delivers results. We can’t have one without the other,” she said.

The key question, then, will be whether countries actually implement radically greener policies and make big shifts away from Pillar 1. In the current CAP, more than 70 percent of payments go to Pillar 1. A mere 1.5 percent is targeted at investments in sustainable organic farming systems, according to the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture.

Focus on ecology

Adding to the conundrum is an entrenched belief that some of the existing environmental rules, such as setting aside 5 percent of arable land to create so-called ecological focus areas, are widely flouted. While farmers receive money to set aside land aimed at improving biodiversity, many of them plant protein crops in these areas instead of hedges, bushes and trees.

In the Commission’s communication, it is clear that countries would have to police this more closely. They “would be accountable for providing credible performance reporting, underpinning the assurance of the budget.”

A report released in November by BirdLife Europe, the EEB and the Green and Socialist groups in the European Parliament concluded that the current CAP did not do enough to halt environmental degradation, reduce biodiversity loss or address climate change.

“We need a proper assessment of the impact of subsidies on the ground. Without such an evidence-based approach it will be impossible for the Commission to justify continuing to pour such huge amounts of EU taxpayers’ money into the CAP,” Bas-Defossez said.

This article is part of the spring policy primer.

Virgin Group billionaire Richard Branson announced on Friday the launch of an effort to raise $100 million in 60 days for the people of Venezuela centered around “Venezuela Aid Live,” a concert featuring some of the biggest names in the Latin American music industry.

Multiple reports have listed top acts like J Balvin, Maluma, Ricardo Montaner, and Juan Luis Guerra on the short list of artists performing. At press time, British rock legend Peter Gabriel is the only English-language artist listed to perform.

The concert is scheduled to take place on February 22 in Cúcuta, Colombia, the border town where dictator Nicolás Maduro has blocked $20 million in American food and medical aid from entering Venezuela. Cúcuta is a common transit point for Venezuelans seeking to flee the country. As Branson notes in his launch video, at least 3 million Venezuelans have fled the country in the past five years, triggering the worst migrant crisis in modern Latin American history and rivaling the Syrian migrant crisis.

Unlike the English-language entertainment industry in America, where some of the nation’s most prominent celebrities supported socialist dictator Hugo Chávez and others continue to support Maduro, America’s mainstream entertainment industry is largely united in supporting the Venezuelan people in their struggle to end two decades of socialist rule.

In a video posted to social media announcing the concert, currently titled Venezuela Aid Live, Branson says that interim Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó and political prisoner Leopoldo López, the leader of Guaidó’s socialist Popular Will party, “asked us to organize a beautiful concert” to bring humanitarian aid into the country. Guaidó, upon being sworn into office on January 23, vowed to make bringing food and medical aid into the country his top priority.

“Venezuela is suffering. Not that long ago, it was the wealthiest country in South America. Now it is facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the Western Hemisphere,” Branson says in the video. “Over 3 million Venezuelans have been displaced … Nicolás Maduro’s regime, which is responsible for this crisis, is currently refusing to allow any humanitarian aid in the country.”

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In a statement on Virgin’s website, Branson says the concert idea derives from prior humanitarian efforts from musicians in modern history.

“I know a thing or two about the music business, and I’m old enough to remember how George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh and Bob Geldof’s LiveAid moved the world to action,” Branson writes. “And so I’ve offered to help organise an international benefit concert, Venezuela Aid Live, which myself and Bruno Ocampo are happy to announce will take place on February 22nd in Cucuta, Colombia, right on the Venezuelan border.”

A website set up for the concert states that “our goal is to raise $100 million dollars in 6 days and reopen Venezuela’s border so humanitarian aid can finally reach those millions who need it the most.”

Branson states that 100 percent of the concert proceeds will go to the Venezuelan people. Maduro has not responded to the announcement at press time and Branson has not offered an explanation for how his project intends to get the aid into Venezuela if Maduro continues blocking the border.

While Maduro is no longer the legitimate president of Venezuela – and dozens of countries around the world recognize Guaidó as the president of Venezuela – he retains control of the military and has used it to block humanitarian aid and violently repress pro-democracy protesters. The Maduro regime insists that humanitarian aid from America is a ruse to disguise an invasion of U.S. troops meant to re-colonize the country and steal its oil. Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, speculated this week that the food shipped to Cúcuta was “poisoned” and “carcinogenic,” warning Venezuelans that had already crossed the border into Colombia not to eat it.

The Venezuela Aid Live concert has attracted some of the most popular musical artists currently active in Latin America. Modern reggaetón artists popular throughout the United States. J Balvin, Maluma, and Luis Fonsi will reportedly perform at the event. Also on the list are the Venezuelan romance ballad star Ricardo Montaner, his sons Mau y Ricky (themselves a successful reggaetón act), Dominican music legend Juan Luis Guerra, Spanish pop icon Miguel Bosé, and Colombians Carlos Vives and Juanes. With the potential exception of J Balvin – famous in the United States for collaborations with Cardi B and Beyoncé – most are not popular outside of the U.S. Hispanic community but are household names throughout the Western Hemisphere. At press time, the only English-language artist on the list is Peter Gabriel.

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The experienced defender is taking in a season-long loan in Italy and is open to a permanent deal as he also eyes up an England recall for Euro 2020

Chris Smalling is ready to hold talks regarding a permanent move to Roma from Manchester United and is also eyeing up an England recall ahead of Euro 2020.

The 30-year-old defender is currently taking in a season-long loan at Stadio Olimpico.

A brave decision to leave his comfort zone at Old Trafford was taken during the summer of 2019.

More teams

Having slipped down the pecking order at United, with a record-breaking deal for Harry Maguire nudging him out of favour, the opportunity to head for Serie A was embraced.

Smalling has earned plenty of plaudits during his time in Italy and admits that he would be open to the idea of staying on.

He told BBC Sport: “Yeah, I think the plan at the start of the season was to contribute as much as I can and then hopefully if we’ve all had a good season and hit our ambitions then those discussions can take place.

“I’ve been more than happy with my first half of the season, it’s now just making sure that we kick on and finish the season strongly because we have a lot to play for.

“Coming over here and trying to hit ground running with football was the priority. But my family settling in and me learning the language and enjoying the culture, it’s something you need to make the most of.

“My family and I definitely are.”

Smalling’s fine form at Roma has led to calls for him to be welcomed back into the United squad for 2020-21, given that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have continued to spring leaks.

It has also been suggested that the experienced figure should come into contention for a place in England’s squad for this summer’s European Championship.

Smalling has not figured for his country since 2017, with Gareth Southgate overlooking him on a regular basis, but there remains a desire on his part to add to a collection of 31 caps.

“Obviously it’s been a couple of years now, but that ambition is always there with England,” he said of his international ambition.

“I know that Gareth and the coaching staff have been to a few of my games over here and I guess you know you are in their thoughts if you are playing at a top club.

“I hold those aspirations, and I just try to focus on here and what comes, comes. But I would very much like to be part of [the Euros], for sure.”

EU CONFIDENTIAL

Madrid calls Catalan vote ‘evil illegal act’

Spain’s Europe minister compared Madrid’s efforts to stop the Catalan vote to John F. Kennedy defending desegregation in the United States

Jorge Toledo Albiñana, Spain’s Secretary of State for European Affairs, has opened up a new front in Madrid’s war of words against Catalan separatists.

Speaking to POLITICO’s EU Confidential podcast in the countdown to a referendum called by the Catalan government Sunday October 1, Toledo called the vote an “evil illegal act” that undermines 500 years of shared history, 60 years of European integration and 40 years of Spanish democracy.

Toledo said the government of Catalonia has breached the Spanish constitution and its own autonomy statute in pushing forward with referendum plans.

He compared Madrid’s battle to U.S President John F. Kennedy sending in troops to uphold the rights of black students to attend desegregated schools in the south of the United States.

“Kennedy said that it was a basic principle of the United States of America and of freedom to abide by the law. You can disagree with the law. You can change the law. But you cannot not apply the law because you think it is not fit to your purposes.”

While ramping up the dramatic analogies, Toledo is also dismissive of the impact of Sunday’s vote: Independence “is not going to happen” he said.

Amadeu Altafaj, Catalonia’s representative in Brussels told POLITICO’s EU Confidential that Toledo’s comments are “very telling,” and claimed Madrid will use any means — including courts, armed police, undercover operations, and communication bans — rather than political dialogue to end the debate.

Altafaj slammed Madrid’s tactics as a “black and white, passionate macho Latino approach.” He said the Spanish government is “not rational” and said that with a different approach “most of the tensions could have been diffused years ago.”

Toledo said Madrid’s actions, including court action against hundreds of mayors and other Catalan officials was “very proportionate to an unprecedented challenge to the law.”

Recognizing the risk of violence as people attempt to vote Sunday, Altafaj called for calm and insisted there had not been “a single incident” during six years of “huge demonstrations with more than 1 million people on the street.”

While Altafaj said “We are open to discussion and until the very last-minute,” the chance of a meaningful dialogue is slim.

Toledo insisted “There is no possible dialogue on independence of Catalonia”

Altafaj suggested a third-party mediator may be required come October 2 to break the political deadlock.

Catalonian Foreign Affairs Minister Raül Romeva told reporters in Brussels Thursday that he called on the EU to “stand for values and principles” such as free expression guaranteed by the EU treaty.

Minister Toledo rejected the idea that “a part of Spain decides on its own what the whole of Spain is.”

Romeva said the determination of millions of Catalans to participate in the referendum — the government says 70 to 80 percent want the right to vote — is “nothing against Spain.”

— Judith Mischke contributed reporting to this article

 

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