Minister Says Changes to CAP Will Affect Slovenian Farmers

Brussels, 26 November

Proposed changes to the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) that would raise the current 0.3 hectare minimum area eligible for direct payments could present a problem to Slovenia, Agriculture Minister Iztok Jarc said in Brussels on Monday.

At the meeting of EU agriculture ministers at which views were exchanged on the mid-term review of the CAP, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Mariann Fischer Boel was not able to say by how much the minimum area would be raised.
She meanwhile emphasised that "0.3 hectares was a very low threshold". Fischer Boel has recently told STA that the measure could affect "the newest" EU member states, and that Slovenia would be affected to a lesser extent.
If the limit is to be lifted to one hectare, that would affect 2,600 Slovenian farmers, which is between 4 and 5% of the total number of farmers, said Jarc. That is the number of farmers whose holdings cover the area between 0.3 and 1 hectare, he added.
Jarc said that Slovenia did not yet have an official position on the proposed changes, and that it was in the process of harmonisation with NGOs and within the government. He meanwhile presented first assessments by individual proposals.
Regarding single payments, Jarc said that Slovenia had just introduced "reform payments from 2003", adding that the EU would not be able to avoid single area payments after 2013.
In terms of new challenges related to preventive measures for fighting climate change, the minister said that such measures would be funded from the transfer of funds from the first CAP pillar (direct payments to farmers) to the second pillar (rural development measures).
Jarc also assessed the current situation regarding the EU wine reform, saying that nothing had been agreed yet and that opinions differed. Jarc thinks that the ministers can make a step forward but that a solution still could not be found.
Regarding Slovenia's EU presidency plans on the CAP, Jarc said that the mid-term review would be on the table in January, that political support was expected in March, and that the European Commission was to present legislative proposals in May. The first debate on the legislation is scheduled for June, he added.

Minister Says Changes to CAP Will Affect Slovenian Farmers

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