Oxford Farming Conference: CAP deal will help EU win business, says Ciolos

EU agriculture commissioner Dacian Ciolos defended CAP reform decisions rather than painting a picture of the future opportunities when he addressed the Oxford Farming Conference on 7 January.
Mr Ciolos promised less bureaucracy and intervention, combined with an increased focus on crisis management when required.
He said the new CAP was designed to set standards and rules while recognising the diversity of all 28 member states. He believed the new deal would encourage competitiveness and enable Europe to win business in China where there was confidence in the safety and quality of our products.
The mandate to enable member states to positively discriminate in favour of young farmers was also seen as a breakthrough in achieving “generational change”, he said.
However, the EU commissioner faced criticism from NFU president Peter Kendall on this aspect of CAP reform.
Mr Kendall was not convinced that offering cash incentives would work. “I don’t believe €2,000 is going to deliver a generational change – that won’t be enough to encourage restructuring of businesses,” he said.
“The way we do it is not to pay farmers to stop farming, we have to use imaginative business models and different ways in for young people.”
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