Britain and Poland call for fundamental CAP reform

22/09/11

The agriculture ministers of Britain and Poland issued a joint statement on Tuesday, ahead of next month’s reform proposals for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).  The two countries converge in their desire to see a shift in emphasis of the policy from pure production subsidies to more environmental protection.  They want to expose agricultural markets to greater market discipline, which, they argue, will increase productivity.  A particular bone of contention for Poland is the current scheme of payments, whereby ‘new’ member states are paid significantly less than the ‘old’.  Experts doubt, however, the true level of convergence between the two countries’ positions, given that they have very different models agriculture.

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