The French Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Michel Barnier, who was the key person in drawing up the CAP Health Check agreement concluded in Brussels this morning, has made it possible to extend the cuts on direct payments to grain and oil and protein seed producers in France to more than 40%.

  There is already 5% for modulation and another 5% for future modulation, plus the additional possibility (on the pretext of rebalancing) of levying 10% under the terms of the new Article 68 and more than 20% under the new Article 64.  Late in the negotiations, substantial changes were made to Article 64, and now almost all of the 25% of recoupled payments for grain and oilseed and protein seed producers can be turned into additional payments for other sectors.
 
In a market situation and with increasing charges as currently experienced, this level of levying would soon put most of our farms out of business, without even contemplating the effect of the dismantling of wheat intervention as decided this morning.  This would mean an end to farming hundreds of thousands of hectares and a fall-off in secondary business and activities in the areas affected.
 
The adoption of this measure shows there is a total lack of awareness of the hard economic facts of farming, with negative consequences not only for farmers but also for consumers.
 
Grain and oil and protein seed producers have called on the FNSEA (France’s national federation of agricultural workers’ unions) to act.  Discussions within the FNSEA over the next few weeks and months must move along a realistic path and lead to arbitration taking into account the interests of all parties concerned and the situation with the different types of CAP payments for each sector.
  
Contact : Pascal HURBAULT, 01 44 31 16 25