MEP hammers doublespeak European Commission proposals for future of agriculture as lawyers paradise

New proposals for the future of agriculture after 2014 outlined by Commissioner Dacian Ciolos during today’s meeting (12.10.11) of the European Parliament’s Agriculture and Rural Development Committee have been condemned by Stuart Agnew MEP, the UK Independence Party’s agriculture spokesman, who is a member of the Committee.

Mr Agnew said: “The proposals put forward by Commissioner Ciolos designed to target CAP subsidies toward ‘active farmers’ are a classic example of ‘doublespeak’, introduced as a simplification when it rapidly becomes apparent that things will be much more complicated. These proposals will create a lawyer’s paradise because they will have to become involved in deciding if the splitting of a business is a genuine desire or whether it is just a cynical subsidy harvesting operation. Lawyers will also be involved in deciding who is an ‘active farmer’ and what exactly is ‘farmed land’.

“The ‘green agenda’ has once again triumphed with farmers being obliged to set aside 7% of their land as ‘ecological focus areas’ on the basis of an assumption that it will somehow change our weather for the better, which is simply ludicrous. It is also dangerous in an era where we are seeing a sustained increase in the price of staple crops due to inadequate production.

“Inevitably, yet another British quango must be set up to advise farmers of their benefits. All this new tide of micro-management demonstrates is that it is not practical or sensible to have a single agriculture policy for 27 very diverse countries developed and administered by unelected, deskbound bureaucrats from the European Commission”.