European Commissioner For Agriculture on farmer subsidies

The revision of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy and its possible impact on the Maltese farming community will be the main item on the agenda of a one-day visit to Malta tomorrow by Dacian Ciolos, the European Commissioner for Agriculture.

Following the launch of the reform a few weeks ago, which still has to be discussed and approved by the 27 member states, Leonard Mizzi, a senior Commission official, said that the proposals might have a negative effect on farmers receiving direct payments because these are expected to be reduced by two-thirds by 2020.

At the same time, he added, the new proposals would not necessarily mean that the Maltese farming community would lose out because they might exploit added funds dedicated under rural development.

Malta receives just 12 per cent of its CAP funds in direct payments as the bulk take the form of rural developments funds.

Commission sources said yesterday that apart from direct discussions on the CAP reform with Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino, who is responsible for agriculture, Mr Ciolos will also have the opportunity to discuss the new proposals with NGOs and will be touring farming activities in Malta and Gozo.

According to recent statistics issued in Brussels, Malta’s farming and agriculture sector is surprisingly experiencing a revival, in contrast with the rest of the EU. Since 2003, just before Malta’s accession in the EU, the number of agriculture holdings increased by 17.4 per cent to almost 13,000, the largest increase registered in the 27 EU member states.

Though Malta has the smallest holdings in the EU, measuring circa a hectare each, the island also registered an increase of 6.4 per cent in the amount of land used for farming purposes.

Agriculture activity in the EU experienced a significant decline almost across the board with 20 per cent less in holdings when compared to 2003 and two per cent less farmland.

With 3.9 million holdings or 32 per cent of the EU27’s total, Romania had by far the largest number in the EU27 in 2010, followed by Italy (1.6 million), Poland (1.5 million), Spain (one million), Greece (0.7 million), Hungary (0.6 million) and France (0.5 million). These seven member states accounted for more than 80 per cent of the number of agricultural holdings in the EU27 last year.