Campaign promoting subsidy is slammed

The campaign will be funded from a pot of £1m set aside in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget for self-promotion, a “preposterous” amount, says Conservative MEP Timothy Kirkhope, who says the recent CAP reform leaves a policy that is not fit for purpose.

After almost two years of negotiations at EU level, a political agreement on CAP reform was reached in June. The revised policy will be formally adopted later this year with a view to the new policy being in place from January 1, 2014.

Mr Kirkhope, said: “The suggestion of almost £1m being spent to shout the praises of the re-hashed CAP, which is actually arguably worse than its predecessor, is preposterous.

“It has taken us a very long time to get to this stage and we are left with a policy which is not yet fit for purpose for farmers, producers, consumers or the environment and now this funded awareness campaign is being set up to tell everyone how wonderful it is.”

But Dacian Ciolo, the EU’s agriculture and rural development commissioner, said: “Following the political negotiations on CAP reform, we hope to show how this truly European policy will continue playing a major role in the future, not only in providing food, but also in maintaining our natural resources and preserving a vibrant rural life – and that it makes sense to reward farmers for these broader benefits they provide for society.”

The National Farmers’ Union has voiced its concerns over the CAP reforms.

Director of policy Martin Haworth said an opportunity for a “more common, more simple and more market-oriented” policy had been missed.