8 October 2008 - Commenting on yesterday’s agriculture committee vote on the so-called "health check" of the EU’s controversial Common Agriculture Policy, Green MEP for the South East Caroline Lucas commented:

"I am disappointed that the European Parliament has once again gone missing in action in efforts to modernise the common agricultural policy. The agro-industry lobby has yet again succeeded in achieving a vote that blocks the urgently needed redeployment of agricultural subsidies according to social, environmental and employment criteria.

"The Greens believe that today’s agriculture policy should be relocalised and focused on food security, climate protection and energy saving, as well as sustainable biodiversity and use of water. Since Parliament has no co-decision on this issue, Member States’ agriculture ministers can continue to divide up the €42 billion cake of vast agriculture subsidies without meaningful social, environmental and employment criteria. We need binding criteria that will award EU funds to Member States and the agriculture industry only if they become more efficient and sustainable."

She continued: "We regret that the Commission withdrew their initial proposal to introduce caps on subsidies, a proposal improved by Parliament with the possibility of smaller subsidy cuts to farms with a higher number of employees and the reallocation of more funds to rural development. Council is sticking to acreage and historic yields as the calculation base for subsidies. This is a simple case of ducking out of forward-looking policies to protect vested interests.

"Commission and Council do not dispute that agriculture faces new challenges that call for a rethink of agricultural policy. The Commission does a fine job in describing these challenges but does nothing to address them in its legislative proposal. Sticking with the old approach continues unjustifiable history-based subsidies and a system tilted sharply in favour of big agro-industrial concerns at the expense of small-scale organic farmers."

Dr Lucas MEP concluded: "NGOs, development and environment groups, as well as the majority of European citizens, are frustrated at seeing the EU consistently cave in to the agro-industry lobby’s demands. If Parliament is to democratically represent the will of Europeans, it must push for a far-reaching reform of the common agriculture policy."

ENDS