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The Urgency for CAP Reform:
An expanded EU If the current subsidies system is transferred to the CEE-Countries
after accession without fundamental reform, the damaging environmental
and social outcomes mentioned above will be exported to the
new Member States.
| In Poland 25 % of the Polish labour force work in agriculture
and produce 5.5 % of GNP . That means that from a purely
economic view, Polish agriculture is an extremely inefficient
sector. On the other hand, its style of production is
far more environmentally friendly. The average Polish
farm uses few materials (agro-chemicals, machinery), little
energy (fertiliser, gasoline) and its production methods
are extremely labour intensive. Adopting EU farming practices
would mean the intensification of farming through industrialised
forms of production with more material and energy use
and less use of labour. Taking the EU15 average of people
employed in agriculture, employment in Polish agriculture
would drop from 4 million jobs to 800.000, leaving 3.2
million people unemployed and creating enormous social
problems. From an ecological point of view, a shift to
intensive agriculture would be disastrous for landscape
and biodiversity in Poland. Many species already extinct
in EU member states still exist in Central and Eastern
Europe. |
Current EU programmes for Accession do not stimulate organic
agriculture, food production and processing. Agri-environmental
programmes are not considered as a viable option for the development
of rural areas. There are no funds |
|
available for education of farmers about sustainable agriculture
and no public awareness campaigns for politicians and consumers.
EU officials in the pre-accession negotiating process seem to
have no interest in encouraging and developing organic agriculture.
It seems instead that agriculture policies in Accession countries
are focusing towards intensive agriculture and a decrease of
the number of people employed in the agricultural sector. Farmers
in the Accession countries will probably not be able to compete
with the subsidised EU15 farmers and industry. Many farmers
will simply stop producing food and arable land will be abandoned.
Fair Accession for new
EU Member States The Accession process should be based on principles of equality
and partnership. Current proposals from the European Commission
for enlargement (January 2002) seem to see the Accession countries
mainly as a new export market. Giving less income support
to the new countries (starting with 25% and then building
it up in 10 years) compared to current EU15 farmers will make
it very hard for CEE farmers to compete. Turning the new countries
into export markets for the EU 15 is not the way forward.
Friends of the Earth demands equal treatment for farmers from
the EU15 and Accession countries from the beginning: subsidies
under strict environmental conditions and priority for quality
and local diversity.
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