Transcript PRESENTATION NAME

‘Greening’ the CAP
Brian Fuller
Sarah Hauser
Daria Kuznetsova
Luis Suarez-Isaza
Joe Wales
AGENDA
I. Our Pitch
II. Proposed Changes to CAP
III. Two-Part strategy
i. Public Mobilization
ii. Member State Negotiations in European
Parliament and Council of Ministers
IV. Recommendations
PROPOSITION
STATUS QUO:
Pillar I
Market Support
Pillar II
Rural Development
Inefficient
Agricultural
subsidies affect EU
consumers and
trade partners in the
Global South
WINDOW OF
OPPORTUNITY:
PLAN OF ACTION:
(1) Financial Crisis
Passing a CAP reform
will require coordinated action by
member state
governments and substate actors to:
(2) Eastward
expansion of the EU
1)Inform and mobilize
EU citizens
(3) Need for Energy
Security.
2) Create targeted
incentives for EU
nations to vote for CAP
reform
Conditions
conducive to
reform of the CAP:
NEW DESIGN OF CAP
Rural
Development
Market
Support
Rural and
Environmental
Development
Market
Support
PUBLIC MOBILISATION
The CAP has been historically difficult to change:
1) Limited counter lobbying
• Collective action problems amongst taxpayers
• Lack of common interests amongst lobby groups
• No unifying political entrepreneur
2) Lack of awareness of the European public
• 53% have never heard of the CAP
• 24% accurately listed the CAP as one of the four largest
items of EU Budget spending
STRATEGY FOR PUBLIC MOBILISATION
1) European Citizens’ Initiative
2) Oxfam as “spearhead organization” to act as
agenda setter
3) Mobilization of other lobbying bodies such as:
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Environment NGOs
Non-agricultural business groups
Urban trade unions
Other Development organisations
WHY WILL IT WORK?
Increased NGO
activity around the
subject
Greater competition
between lobbying
groups due to
financial crisis and
Greek bail-out
Clash of interests
between hi-tech and
agricultural sector at
Doha Round
Increasing salience of
climate change and
energy security
European Citizens’
Initiative
DetailsInitiative
EuropeanECI
Citizens’
• 1 million signatures from at least a third of member
states (nine)
• Once registered, the commission gives decisions on
whether it is going to propose the legislation within
four months
• Organisers of an initiative have to prove they are not
lobbyists
• Safeguards built into the process
• EU Commission hopes to have it up and running by
December
STRATEGY FOR EUROPEAN
NEGOTIATIONS
Reforms require a co-decision, thus must pass the
European Council of Ministers with a Qualified Majority
(QMV) and the European Parliament (EP) with an absolute
majority
QMV-majority requires:
2/3 of countries voting
for (18 of EU-27)
255 of 345 votes
305.57 million people out
of entire EU population
INCENTIVES
• Crowded Budgetary Needs
• Unsustainable Pillar I Expansion
– New Member Nations Expect Parity
• Accountability to mobilized domestic constituencies
– Lobbies
– Public Opinion
– Dispel the “Democratic Deficit”
• Growing Preference for Rural Development
GREEN ENERGY DEVELOPMENT
• Pillar II funds can be used for alternative energy
• Green energy investment
– Creation of jobs in green business operations
– Support for CAP reform from manufacturing lobby
– Development of rural areas
• EU target of generating 20% of its energy from renewable
sources by 2020.
• Energy Security
– Lower prices
– Energy Independence from Russia
Building a QMV majority
Building a QMV majority
Building a QMV majority
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
• Similar motivations and reservations
• Features of Parliament which are particularly
conducive to CAP reform:
– Populist leanings of MEPs
– EP’s Absolute Majority requires 376 of 761 votes
proportionally fewer than any minimum coalition
satisfying the QMV-majority
Key Actors
Denmark
HenrikHøegh, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries
• Most absolute anti-CAP stances
• Presidency from Jan 2012
Germany
IlseAigner, Minister for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection
• Strong bargaining position
• Shift Pillar I to II, vague on absolute funding
• Benefit from Green Tech Investment
United Kingdom
Caroline Spelman, Secretary of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
• Rebate Renewal vs CAP restructuring
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Monitor European Citizens Initiative
developments
2. Begin public mobilisation strategy in advance of
the ECI
3. Encourage the UK or another country to take a
leading role in negotiating for the proposed
reform
4. Incentivise and protect the core coalition actors
Questions?
References
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Eurobarometer Report Europeans, Agriculture and the Common Agricultural Policy (2008), p4.
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Eurobarometer 70 (2008) (p68) asked those surveyed to list their 4 priority areas for EU Budget spending. Aggregating across the EU
Agriculture and Rural Development came ninth with only 14% of Europeans allocating one of their 4 preferences to it. This compares
with Climate Change & Environmental Protection (5th with 23%) and Energy Issues (6th with 22%).
Jambor and Harvey 2010 CAP Reform Options: A Challenge for Analysis & Synthesis
Majority Calculator for Council Decisions, German Federal Ministry of Economics and TechnologyLandgrebe et al 2009 German
Perspectives on the Current CAP Reform
Defra and HM Treasury, A Vision for the Common Agricultural Policy, December 2005
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Eurobarometer70 Public Opinion in the European Union (2008), p68
European Trade Union Confederation Position of the ETUC on the 6th WTO Ministerial Conference (2005), section 1, a-d.
BusinessEuropeGo For Growth: An Agenda for the European Union in 2010-2014 (2010), p14 & p16
Taxpayer’s Alliance Research Note 46- The Great European Rip-Off (2009), p4.
Which? (Formerly UK Consumers Association) Hungry for Change? Which? Healthier Choice Progress Report (2009), p26.
Various examples, see particularly Oxfam The Time is Now: How world leaders should respond to the food price crisis (2008), p7-8. Also for the USA Oxfam Square pegs in Round holes: How the Farm Bill
squanders chances for a pro-development trade deal (2008).
Council for the Rural Area, Implementation and Vision of Common Agricultural Policy,Fact Sheet - Italy
Eurobarometer 70 – National Report Italy (2008) p5
Eurobarometer 262 (2007) Special Energy Policy survey EU-25
Birdlife International (2008) Debating the Future of the Common Agricultural Policy, Country Profiles
Euractiv.comCall for EU budget reform to match green priorities