Europe's farm chief rejected on Wednesday Britain's argument for a fundamental shakeup of farm spending, saying a 2002 deal fixing the agriculture budget until 2013 had to be respected. "We must respect the Brussels agreement of 2002, which set the ceilings for direct agricultural payments until 2013, and which has meant a significant decline in support for the farmers of the old member states," EU Farm Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said in a speech to French parliamentarians.
"Those who want to tear up the pact should bear in mind that farmers' individual payments will probably be slimmed down in any case after 2007."
EU leaders earlier this month failed to agree an overall budget for 2007-2013 after Britain refused to give up its annual rebate without a commitment to reform farm subsidies. France, the largest beneficiary of CAP funds, refused to re-open the 2002 deal.The European Union agreed spending limits in 2002 for the bulk of its farm spending under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which eats up more than 40 percent of the EU budget.
While the 2002 deal covered most CAP spending such as subsidies for farmers, money set aside for rural development still has to be negotiated.
Fischer Boel said the compromise proposal of 370 billion euros for agriculture and rural development over the seven-year period, while less than the Commission had originally proposed, would have been acceptable.
"On one hand it would have meant painful cuts for rural development compared to what the Commission had put on the table... on the other hand, it would still have raised rural development funding from its present level," she said.
She said a budget deal must be reached as soon as possible.
"Without such an agreement, agricultural and rural spending will be in trouble," she said.
"The rural development regulation, which we recently agreed on in principle, will be left hanging in mid-air until we know how much money we have to spend on it."
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