Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-11-23-Speech-2-623"
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"en.20101123.42.2-623"2
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"Madam President, I am very happy to see that despite the time being quite late, there are so many people present to talk about simplifying the common agricultural policy. I think simplicity comes when we are clear with ourselves and when we know exactly what we want, and this is also reflected in the normative acts we draft.
Of course, the proposals come from the Commission and they are adopted by the Council and by Parliament. Therefore, I am fully confident that when it comes to preparing the legislative package together, we will know just as well, in a clear and simple way, what we want and that we will avoid the specific exceptions and add-ons which mean that subsequently, the Commission will have to check them on the ground, since the same Commission is also accountable to you – Parliament – for how public money is spent.
Of course, I do not think that the CAP is preventing farmers from working, on the contrary. In many cases, the CAP is helping farmers to work. It is just that, whenever public money is involved, everyone needs to be able to account for how that public money was used. There is European legislation that results in standards for the farming sector, and I must say that the farming sector is maybe one of the only economic sectors for which legislation at European level is, in fact, checked on the ground. I do not know if this is the case for other sectors, but together we decided it would be that way. The standards that receive a lot of attention are only the application of European legislation on the ground.
What is perceived as being complex is precisely this legislation on the environment and on animal wellbeing. There are also the procedures of specific measures, such as agri-environmental measures, for which there is special financial assistance, as well as investment measures that are often found in investment programmes like the rural development programme.
I totally agree that with regard to legislation such as it is applied in practice, more could be done to clarify what farmers need to do. Yet as far as the procedures for the specific measures are concerned, we also need to be clear: as long as we require specific measures that take into consideration regional particularities, we also need to exercise a specific control, otherwise we would have no credibility.
I totally agree, Mr Capoulas Santos, that we need to simplify as much as possible. However, I would not want to go so far as to reach a stage where we are no longer credible, no longer able to properly manage the money that is allocated to the CAP, and I would like this budget to be just as consistent in the future too. This consistency will also depend on our ability to justify and account for how the money is used.
As regards transparency, there is a decision by the Court of Justice. What I can tell you is that I am still in favour of this transparency. The regulation that is currently in force will be amended so that this judgment can be taken into account.
I will leave it at that, but I can assure you that I will continue to take decisions aimed at simplification, or at least ensure that the CAP does not become more complicated. As I have already said, we will have to do this work together and with Member States, since I talked to you about measures taken to cut red tape with reference to what the Commission is asking Member States. Now, CAP management is shared with Member States and what happens on the ground for the beneficiary, i.e. the farmer, depends on the way in which Member States and regions put this European legislation into practice.
Since good practice guides are useful, we are also going to work on these guides, but first of all, let us try and make the CAP simple and clear for the 27 Member States. Henceforth, with codecision, you, too, have the same responsibility as the Council in this area, and I am convinced that we will be able to work very well together."@en1
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