Summary of the CIAA Position on the mid-term review of Agenda 2000 and the Common Agricultural Policy

The mid term revision of Agenda 2000 foreseen by the Berlin decisions re-launches the debate on the legitimacy of the CAP, its adequacy with the objectives of competitiveness, sustainability, quality and safety of food. The debate also addressed the capacity of the CAP to face the accession of ten new Member States at the beginning of 2004 and the launching of a new round of multilateral negotiations within the WTO framework. For CIAA, this debate calls for the following reflections and requests:

• The initial years of the application of the latest CAP reforms gave encouraging results, although they are limited to a few sectors. However, the food crises showed the limited ability of the CAP to respond to food safety concerns due to a lack of a global vision for the entire food chain.
  
  
• The primary objective of competitiveness within the context of stronger competition on the internal market as well as in third countries calls for a progressively more market-oriented CAP. The mid-term review should be an opportunity to make commitments on the future orientation of the agricultural and food policy. In addition, EU action on a multilateral and bilateral level should be coherent with the future orientation of the CAP.
  
  
• It is necessary to develop a global approach based on an agricultural and food policy where the quality and safety of products are part of a sustainable development strategy. It is also essential that sustainable agriculture be capable of satisfying requirements with regard to productivity and competitiveness in the production of agricultural raw materials, with a view to responding to industry supply needs at prices that allow being competitive on an international and internal scale.
  
  
• Food safety is non-negotiable and requires responsibility for food safety to be shared by all parts of the food production chain. For reasons of consumer protection and for the competitiveness of the food and drink sector, Community legislation as regards food safety must be applied in the same way, respecting international standards, to imported, processed products.
  
  
• Food quality is perceived by the consumers through multiple factors. Save for the aspects linked to legal requirements related to the marketing of food products, the evaluation of a product's quality should be left to the market and must not be subject to mandatory regulation systems.
  
  
• CIAA is in favour of a more de-coupled support from production. In the debate on future financial perspectives, it is important that the possible extension of co-financing does not cause distortions of competition in the single market. These perspectives call for the reinforcement of the Community framework in order to avoid diversion that would lead to the re-nationalisation of the CAP.