It will be the task of national governments to make sure consumers benefit from the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Franz Fischler, said yesterday. Mr Fischler said the task of the Commission will be to put the reforms, which involve cutting the grants paid to farmers by an average of 10 per cent, into position by the year 2000. "There will be benefits passed on to the consumer. But it is up to national governments to ensure that they are," he said.
Mr Fischler said he could not comment on figures generated in the UK which suggested that the reduction in supports could cut the weekly food bill by up to £20. "I cannot comment on that, but one of the objectives is that food becomes available at more reasonable prices," he told a press conference yesterday.
The Commissioner said one of the problems about price reductions was that the producer price formed only a small part of the prices paid by consumers. Processing, packaging and marketing seemed to account for the greater part of the price of food products.
Dealing with questions from Irish journalists about structural funding, Mr Fischler said Ireland had used its funding very well and there "will be no question of an overnight stripping of structural funding". He said the fund would be phased out over the next few years and funds would be available from other areas of the budget to help rural Ireland adjust to the new situation.
He said the largest number of complaints he had received since the publication of the Agenda 2000 document was from farmers who feared the loss of compensation in the new world trade deal. This was not the case: compensation would continue to be paid to farmers when it was agreed in the new reforms.
Ms Mary Minch, who is involved with World Trade external relations on the agriculture side, said preparations were being made for the next round of negotiations on agriculture in Geneva.
She said the difficulties experienced by Mr Ray MacSharry when he attempted to reform the CAP before negotiating the GATT deal were unlikely to be experienced again.
She added that concepts which had not been familiar to the farm organisations, such as rural development, extensification and environmental issues, were now firmly established principles.