* Warsaw wants CAP budget kept at present level in 2014-2020
* Will urge equal payments to farmers during EU presidency
* Says EU should intervene to calm price volatility now
By Gabriela Baczynska and Maciej Onoszko
WARSAW, March 25 (Reuters) - Poland wants the European Union
to keep farm spending at current levels in the next multi-year
budget for 2014-20 and, during its presidency of the bloc later
this year, will champion the idea of equal payments per hectare.
Polish Farm Minister Marek Sawicki also told Reuters in an
interview that the EU should intervene aggressively to tame
price volatility of agricultural products.
The 27-nation EU is heading towards a reform of its Common
Agriculture Policy (CAP) as part of efforts to cement a deal on
the next long-term budget, but radical change is unlikely
despite calls from Britain and Sweden. []
The CAP currently costs some 55 billion euros ($77.9
billion) a year, or about 40 percent of overall EU spending.
"None of the proposals on the table is currently acceptable
to Poland. We will be working with the European Commission
aiming to have our proposals included in the final CAP
document," Sawicki said.
Warsaw wants equal direct payments per hectare to farmers
across the bloc, a move opposed by France, Germany and other
states. Poland also wants to stop calculating payments based on
historical production and switch to an area-based target.
The size of payments currently ranges from less than 100
euros per hectare in Latvia to above 400 euros in Greece, Malta
and Belgium, with the average set at around 270 euros.
"If politicians don't understand that subsidies must be
calculated on the basis of just rules, the whole CAP will fall
apart," Sawicki said.
The Commission, the EU's executive arm, is due to make
legislative proposals in October, midway through Poland's
six-month presidency of the bloc. Poland is a net beneficiary of
the CAP, as are France, Spain and Italy, among others.
Sawicki said it was unrealistic to expect a rise in the CAP
budget, given the financial woes of many member states, but he
added that spending should remain intact due to increased
responsibilities handed to farmers under a 2008 CAP reform.
"CAP funding must remain at least at current levels to allow
it to deliver on all its (new) tasks," he said, referring to
environmental protection and promotion of renewable energy.
INTERVENTION
Sawicki dismissed suggestions that EU subsidies contributed
to rising food price inflation and blamed speculation, adding
that farmers were not benefiting from the higher prices.
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For Sawicki's specific comments on the sugar market:
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"Europe should actively use the mechanism of intervention
purchases. And the purchase price should not be lower than
production costs," he said, adding that he saw appropriate wheat
prices at 125-130 euros per tonne.
"One year we pay 110 euros and then 240 euros per tonne of
wheat. If at least some of it were stored, the price would be
much less volatile."
EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos said on Thursday
that establishing public grain stocks to combat food price
volatility was unlikely. [] Sawicki criticised the
commissioner's comments as "irresponsible".
Sawicki said the EU and other international institutions
such as the World Trade Organisation, the World Bank and the
G-20 should make deliveries obligatory for agricultural goods
bought on the futures market to help curb speculation.
"Food markets are specific, they are not like any other
market. The wars in the Arab world did not stem from a longing
for democracy but for bread. If the Euro-Atlantic community
wants to avoid conflicts, it must introduce mechanisms to limit
speculation on food markets," Sawicki said.
(Writing by Maciej Onoszko, editing by Gareth Jones and Jane
Baird)
(maciej.onoszko@thomsonreuters.com; +48 22 653 9711;
RM:maciej.onoszko.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
($1=.7062 Euro)
