URL: Latest posts
Wine reform up for grabs
NEW
Farm commissioner Dacian Ciolos has announced that a high level group is to review the 2008 wine reform: Wine Traditional wine producing states have been unhappy about its effects but it benefitted smaller producers like the UK which saw some bureau...
Why the Indian wine market is not taking off
NEW
With its rising middle class one might expect a growing demand in India for quality wines. But the reverse is the case. Wine volumes fell 15.7 per cent between 2009 and 2010.China offers a stark contrast. It imports 2.5m cases of Bordeaux a year.
No deal before French and German elections
NEW
No deal on CAP reform will be reached until after the French election in 2012 and the German election in 2013 according to Defra minister Caroline Spelman speaking at the Oxford Conference. She also said that Britain was reaching out beyond its tradi...
How would you spend your £200?
NEW
Each of us spends on average £200 on the Common Agricultural Policy. How would you spend your £200. Try the interactive survey here: Survey...
The European crisis, Britain and the CAP
NEW
The outcome of the eurozone crisis remains unknown, although none of the measures taken so far have really tackled the fundamental problems of sovereign debt and structural uncompetitiveness in Southern Europe.What effects will the exercise of the Br...
Biopesticides on the march
NEW
I have just returned from an Informa conference on biopesticides (or biocontrol) in Amsterdam where I talked about the implications of the new EU legislation on plant protection products which is now starting to be implemented.What was striking about...
Green space controversy grows
NEW
The controversy over the so-called 'Green Space' in the CAP reform proposals is growing: Green Space A somewhat embattled farm commissioner, Dacian Ciolos, is insistent that the proposals do not amount to set aside. As farm as farm organizations ar...
Doha lite?
NEW
The recent G-20 summit was understandably dominated by the eurozone crisis so little attention was paid to the fact that leaders decided to effectively abandon all hopes of achieving a full blown Doha Round settlement and instead see if they could ac...
Good objective, wrong means
NEW
Choosing the right policy instrument to achieve your policy goal is of central importance in designing and implementing an effective agricultural policy as I argued in an article in West European Politics in 2010: Policy instruments I am very much of...
The last one left standing
NEW
Last week East Malling Research kindly invited me to give the annual Amos Memorial Lecture at the research station. My theme was 'Food: Safe, Sustainable, Sufficient?' They videoed the lecture so I will post a link if it becomes available, not that...
Is Europe losing touch with reality?
NEW
Stefan TangermannIs Europe losing touch with reality? One might think so given the surprise Greek decision to hold a referendum on the austerity package. The fear of contagion is very real and if the euro is confined to a small core of northern me...
'Greening' measures prove controversial
NEW
The 'greening' measures proposed in the Commission's CAP reform plans attracted criticism from several countries at last week's Farm Council in Luxembourg.Defra secretary Caroline Spelman argued that the measures to take 7 per cent of land out of pro...
CAP reform proposals have no friends
NEW
The Commission's proposals for the reform of the CAP have not gone down well in any quarter and have managed to draw fire from Britain and France: Reform Of course, it was ever thus and one is never going to devise a reform that is welcomed in all q...
No great suprises in CAP reform proposals
NEW
There are no great surprises in the widely leaked Commission proposals for reform of the Common Agricultural Policy released today: CAP reform Also, not surprisingly, UK ministers have criticised the proposals as inadequate.The reform proposals have...
CAP reforms 'turning clock back'
NEW
Farm minister Jim Paice has luanched an outspoken attack on farm commissioner Dacian Ciolos, accusing him of 'turning the clock back' in his proposals for CAP reform.Paice was addressing a fringe meeting at the Conservative Party conference. He hin...
Dual blast on CAP from Court of Auditors
NEW
The Court of Auditors has delivered a dual blast at the CAP. The first report considers the £2.5bn of spending a year on agri-environmental schemes. It argues that poor design makes it difficult to assess the extent to which agri-environmental sc...
OECD calls for farm subsidies to go
NEW
The OECD is arguing that currently relatively high farm prices provide a window of opportunity to scrap farm subsidies: OECD If only it were so, but the underlying politics does not permit it. Farmers will point out that input prices have also rise...
Sugar quotas to go
NEW
The EU is to end sugar quotas and guaranteed minimum prices in 2016. This represents a one year extension after the scheduled end to quotas to give producers more time to adjust: Sugar It is hoped that the change will boost output and reduce prices...
Greening element in CAP reform increased
NEW
The European Commission is proposing to increase the greening element in the CAP reform in relation to Pillar 1 measures: Greening The proportion of farmland to be placed in ecological measures would be increased from the previously proposed 5 per c...
Farm incomes up
NEW
Farm incomes are up in the EU, but there is considerable variation across member states. EU farm incomes jumped by almost 13% last year, thanks to higher crop and milk prices, but the UK was among just seven member states to see a drop.The biggest i...
