Written question asked by Peter Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party) on Monday, 15 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 18 March 2010. It was answered by Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour) on Monday, 22 March 2010 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether it is his policy to support (a) the provision of direct payments to farmers under Pillar One of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and (b) a CAP budget of at least equivalent monetary value following reforms of the CAP with effect from 2013.

Answer: [holding answer 18 March 2010]: The UK Government's position on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was set out in the joint DEFRA/Treasury CAP Vision published in 2005. We want to see the elimination of all Direct Payments under Pillar I of the CAP. Direct Payments are an expensive and inefficient mechanism and undermine the ability of farmers to be truly competitive. They do not help farmers to tackle the challenges of the future and our policy is therefore to see them phased out by a carefully managed transition by 2015-20. A sustainable CAP would comprise of EU spending on agriculture that would be based on the current Pillar II, allowing a considerable reduction in total spending by the EU on agriculture and bringing this into line with other sectors.

Secondary information