THE AGRICULTURE FAIR AND EUROPE

FARMERS ARE ALWAYS BREASTY

The Agriculture Fair closed its doors this weekend, leaving farmers once more "hungry" (no pun intended), despite the ballet and bowing of almost all politicians. Yet they were treated with all the attention and extreme sympathy of all the French ruling class.

However, this ballet of politics or economic leaders has not reassured the agricultural world which has been for many months in great difficulties either globally or individually (for each farmer).

At the end of the show, several questions remained unanswered:

CAP (Common Agricultural Policy)

This is the first item of expenditure, ie 37.6% of the budget of the European Union. Since the Lisbon Treaty (2005), the CAP has been part of a five-year binding multiannual framework. But whereas before, it was the Commission alone which controlled all the decisions of the agricultural budget, since 2005 the Parliament holds more power.

With the European elections approaching, it is easy to imagine all the interest that farmers will have in the future of the CAP and the place it will have in the proposals of the programs of the different political parties that will present lists for these elections.

However, the European Commission, by voice, in the Agriculture Committee of Phil Hogan, has already developed its own proposals for the future budget of the CAP for the period 2021-2027.

2021, it's almost tomorrow! The talks have already made good progress, in a period of shortfall of around 12 billion euros caused by the departure of the United Kingdom from the EU, as a consequence of Brexit.

Because, following the first proposals of the European Commission, which provides for a reduction of 5% of the total budget of the CAP France would receive only € 7.147 billion of direct aid after 2020.

The reduction of the CAP budget will therefore have a very negative impact on farmers' incomes ... who see this shift come to fright.

The Commission is aware of this situation. Under (political) pressure in the run-up to the European elections, it dropped the ballast and left each country free (it is not customary) to increase its national contributions "to finance the aid for sustainable development, the safeguarding of diversity, product quality and societal expectations of health ".

But everyone knows that the budget of France is bloodless and that the margins of action are virtually non-existent as a result of the explosion of Yellow Vests.

It is very exactly and for this reason, because it is also in campaign, that Emmanuel Macron walked during 14H30 (a record) the alleys of the Salon of the Agriculture, punctuating his stops of exchanges improvised, promising a Europe that protects, cradling in its arms a kid, named Désir (it does not invent!) Offered by a farmer, promising to regulate the "population of bears and wolves pragmatically", caressing the asses of cows as the Jacques Chirac was doing ... In short! All in all, a vertiginous sum of gossip which has not come out very much and which leaves questions about the concrete intentions of the executive in matters of national agricultural policy.

The Agriculture and Food Law promulgated on November 1, 2018:

Coming into force on February 1, 2019, the law's main objective is to prohibit the sale at cost price of appeal products (Coca Cola, Ricard, Nestle, Nutella, etc.) and to require increases of 10% . According to the law, the resulting increase in turnover should, in theory, better pay agricultural suppliers and the work of farmers. Consumers held their breath, expecting massive increases in their shopping carts.

In fact, the measure has paradoxically benefited large stores once again ... who, using their considerable financial weight, forced manufacturers to lower their prices (3% on average) and which also played on the margins of distributors, not subject to the minimum margins provided by law. Extravagant!

As a result, the peasants are still waiting for the "runoff" promised to them

Certainly the Minister of Agriculture, has raised the tone, recently. He promised controls and sanctions ... a posteriori!

But in detail, too busy also with his obsequious genuflections made to the profession during the Salon de l'Agriculture, he says he has not yet had time to deal with the problem. Farmers will wait again!

The arms passes between ecology and agriculture:

On these two points, the atmosphere was very tense between Nicolas Hulot and Stéphane Travers, the former Minister of Agriculture. Moreover, both of them having resigned in 2018, it was hoped that the knives would return to the cupboards.

What nay! None of this happened. The duel between ecology and agriculture left more beautiful! Didier Guillaume, the new Minister of Agriculture unsheathed the first by denouncing agri-bashing. The reply of François de Rugy was not long in coming: "we must be aware that every time concessions were made to the agricultural world, it caused irritation in the opinion (reference to the Glysophate affair) ".

Poor farmers, drowned under the presidential logorrhea at the Salon de l'Agriculture. Poor farmers fooled once again, because as Charles Pasqua said "the promises are binding only those who receive them".

Ever since Emmanuel Macron was elected, farmers have been empty-handed, systematically.

Also, suicides are linked in the countryside (1 every two days) so that, vote after vote the National Gathering (formerly FN) reap the voices in quantity.

Clara Mitchell for DayNewsWorld