Common Agricultural Policy

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the estimated value was of direct aid under the Common Agricultural Policy in each of the last five years, broken down by product; and by what date this support will be phased out in each case, where applicable.

Answer

The European Commission list direct aid amounts as presented in table 1. Only some of this support is coupled, as table 1 makes clear.

Table 1: EU direct aids for budget, 2003 to 2009
€ million
	2009¹	2008¹	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003
Decoupled direct aids
SPS	28,450	27,220	28,119	14,226	0	0	0
SAPS	3,808	3,065	2,083	1,721	1,449	0	0
Separate sugar payment	255	209	167	0	0	0	0
Separate fruit and vegetables payment	12	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other direct aids
Arable Crops	1,850	1,852	1,853	7,951	17,158	17,095	16,251
Beef	1,661	1,659	1,697	2,637	7,730	7,312	7,363
Sheep and Goats	326	335	330	907	1,837	1,471	2,084
Dairy	0	0	0	1,454	1,370	0	0
POSEI	422	418	81	81	185	110	244
Fruit and Veg²	429	224	202	255	483	595	544
Sugar	26	30	17	0	0	0	0
Rice	173	171	173	261	427	110	117
Olive groves	98	98	119	2,312	2,240	2,302	2,318
Tobacco	305	293	336	811	918	924	950
Silkworms	1	1	1	0	0	0	0
Cotton	262	260	254	0	0	0	0
Payments for specific types of farming and quality production	438	435	420	199	0	0	0
Other (direct aids)	—	—	761	958	75	0	0
Additional amounts of aid	562	563	434	316	0	0	0
Ancillary direct aids (reliquats, small producers, agrimonetary aids, etc.)	0	0	0	0	4	1	-7
Recoveries	0	0	0	-39	-21	-12	-1
Total	39,077	36,832	37,046	34,051	33,856	29,908	29,864
¹ Data for these years is based on budget commitments, rather than actual spending.
² Includes starch potatoes and grain legumes.
Source:
Draft General Budget 2009, EC.

Agreement has been reached on phasing out several of the remaining coupled payments, with their amounts usually being added to the decoupled SPS and SAPS, such that decoupling is budget neutral. The payments involved and relevant dates are presented in table 2. Decoupling is also a major focus of the current health check negotiations, where agreement is expected to be reached on phasing out several other coupled payments (with their amounts again being added to the SPS and SAPS), with expected phase-outs as presented in table 3. The UK ““Vision for the Common Agricultural Policy”” is clear that in the longer term, direct payments should be phased out completely, with payments to farmers targeted at delivering public benefits, including environmental benefits, through a re-shaped pillar two.

Table 2: Direct Aids already scheduled to be decoupled (or not scheduled to be decoupled)
Sector	Current situation	When scheduled to be phased out
POSEI (payments for bananas in the outermost regions)	75 per cent. coupled contribution to national assistance programmes for banana growers	No end date is fixed for this aid
Fruit and vegetables	The EU Processed Fruit and Vegetables Regime was subject to major reform in 2007, with agreement reached on a phased approach to full decoupling:	Tomatoes for processing: 1 January 2012
		Other processing aids: 1 January 2013
	Tomatoes for processing—member states may allow a maximum four-year transitional period provided that the coupled element of the payment does not exceed 50 per cent. of the corresponding component of the national ceiling
	Other processing aids—member states may allow a maximum five-year transitional period until at the latest 31 December 2012, provided that after 31 December 2010, the coupled proportion of the payment does not exceed 75 per cent. of the corresponding component of the national ceiling in 2011 and 2012 respectively
Sugar	There are no direct aids in the sugar sector, but there is a transitional fund to help the sugar sector restructure	The transitional aid is due to end in 2010
	There are also separate sugar payments as part of the Single Payment Scheme
Tobacco	Progressive reduction in coupled support from 2006 to 2010	2010
Silkworms	100 per cent. coupled payment.	No end date is fixed for this payment
Cotton	65 per cent./35 per cent. split of decoupled/coupled payments	Agriculture Council agreed in 2008 to maintain coupled aid payments at these levels

Table 3: Health check proposals for decoupling
Sector	Current situation	Health Check proposal
Crops	Member states may retain partial coupled payments in:	Full decoupling from 2010 and integrate into Single Payment Scheme (SPS)
	Arable Crops Payments (up to 25 per cent.)
	Durum Wheat Quality Supplement (up to 40 per cent.)
	Hops (up to 25 per cent.)
	100 per cent. exclusion of certain or all species
Olive oil	Aid for olive groves could remain up to 40 per cent. coupled	Full decoupling in 2010 and integration in SPS
Livestock	Member States may retain coupled payments in:	Slaughter premium for young animals, slaughter premium for adult animals and special beef premium: full decoupling in two steps (50 per cent. coupled in 2010, 50 per cent. coupled in 2011 and 100 per cent. decoupled in 2012 and onwards). Shift to SPS
	Suckler Cow Premium (up to 100 per cent.)	No change in suckler cow and sheep and goatmeat
	Special beef premium (up to 75 per cent.)
	Slaughter Premium (up to 40 per cent. for adults and 100 per cent. for calves)
	Sheep and Goats (up to 50 per cent.)
Flax and Hemp	Option of 25 per cent. partial coupling as arable crops area payment. Short fibre flax to be phased out in 2008-09. Long fibre flax to be increased to €40/tonne in 2009-10.	Decouple long fibre flax processing aid and shift to SPS in 2 steps: 50 per cent. in 2011 and full decoupling in 2013.
Dried Fodder	Retain processing aid (per tonne, uniform for dehydrated and dried fodder)	Decouple processing aid and shift to SPS in 2011
Starch potato	Aid for starch producers (60 per cent. of pre-2003 level) paid per tonne of starch delivered. A transformation aid is granted to the manufacturers per tonne of potato starch with guaranteed minimum prices within the quota limit. Finally, production refunds for starch are granted when using starch for the production of certain goods	Decouple aid to growers and shift to SPS (phasing out in 2013, in two steps: 50 per cent. in 2011 and full decoupling in 2013); decouple processing aid and shift to SPS in 2011; removal of quotas by 2013; abolish production refund in 2009
Energy crop premium	Aid of EUR 45 per hectare for energy crops for the production of biofuels and electric and thermal energy produced from biomass	Abolish in 2010
Durum Wheat	Aid of EUR 40 per hectare, granted subject to the use of certain quantities of certified seeds of varieties recognised as being of high quality for the production of semolina or pasta	Abolition and shift to SPS in 2010
Protein crops	Aid of EUR 55, 57 per hectare of protein crops (peas, field beans, lupins)	Decouple and shift into SPS in 2010
Specific payment for rice	Aid per hectare, the value set according to the yields in the member states concerned	Decouple and shift to SPS (50 per cent. in 2010 and further 50 per cent. in 2012)
Nuts	Aid per hectare granted to farmers producing nuts, with a possibility of granting additional national aid	Decouple and shift to SPS in 2010
Single Area Payment Scheme (SAPS)	New member states have to change to SPS by 2010-11	Prolong possibility of applying SAPS until end 2013