XXIII European Congress and Colloquium of Agricultural
Law
Roros (Norway) - 6-10 March 2005
European Council for Agricultural Law
Questionnaire
Commission II
The Consequences of the new Revision of the CAP on FARMING
BUSINESSES and Rural Property
Les conséquences de la nouvelle révision de la
PAC sur l’exploitation et la propriété agricole
Die Auswirkungen der neuen Revision der GAP auf die landwirtschaftlichen
Betriebe und das bäuerliche Eigentum
President - Président - Präsident :
Prof. Dr. Erkki HOLLO, Helsinki University, Institute of Private
Law, PL 4, FIN-00014 Helsinki University, Tel. 358-9-191231118
Fax 358-9-4775004, e-mail : erkki.hollo@helsinki.fi
General Reporter - Rapporteur Général - Generalberichterstatter
: Prof. Dr. Ana CARRETERO GARCIA, Profesora de Derecho civil,
Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas
y Sociales, Cobertizo de San Pedro Mártir, s/n, E-45071
Toledo, Tel.: 00-34-925-251586, Fax: 00-34-925-251586, E-mail:
Ana.Carretero@uclm.es
Comprehensiveness and deadline: A country report should consist of 10-15 pages (A 4, ca. 2.200 characters) and should be delivered by e-mail until October 31st 2004 (as Word document if possible) to the General Reporter (address as aforesaid) (Word-document if possible). A copy should be sent to the Delegate General: paul.richli@unilu.ch
When answering a question, national reporters are kindly requested to give examples for a better understanding in respect of agricultural farms and companies of the agro- and food-industry, which national administration as well as national courts have had to deal with.
Information and Thanks: Please contact the General Reporter for additional information you may need. The General Reporter thanks you in advance for observing the above-mentioned indications and requirements.
Introduction
As we all know, the new reform of the CAP ratified by the European
Union has led to an important change in the agricultural support
system.
This change is based on the following principles:
1. The decoupling of financial support from production (in order to strengthen the negotiating position in the WTO).
2. The obligatory modulation of support (in order to receive more resources for the second pillar) together with a system of financial discipline (in order to control the expenditure).
3. Cross compliance of the aid (in the search for an improved social legitimacy for the grant of aids). Furthermore, it is intended to strengthen rural development policy and certain common organisation markets are being reviewed to adapt them to the perspectives of development and stabilisation of the agricultural markets.
Undoubtedly, the evolution of the CAP not only affects the law ratified by EU member states, but also the area of private law relationships regulated by the Civil Law. Therefore we have to deal with the problems arising at the interface of Community law and national law. We have to analyse the consequences of the new agricultural support system on farms, on the contractual practices in member states and on the existing relationships of property.
The aim of this paper is to present a brief questionnaire which should serve for the national reporters as a starting point for discussion on possible deficiencies, doubts, gaps or problems brought up by the main elements of the new Common Agricultural Policy. It is important to search for the best information possible about the consequences and the real impact of the reform on the agriculture and the legal systems of every country.
Questions
1) Do you think that the national norms regulating farming and
agricultural property in your country comply with the definitions
established by the new horizontal regulation for subsidised
agriculture?
2) What are the foreseeable effects of the reform on products
included in the scheme of single farm payments and the consequences
for the products which are not included?
3) What do you consider as the advantages and the objections
of the national or regional implementation of the single payment
scheme elected by your state?
4) Does your country use the transitional period allowed for
the introduction of the single payment scheme? If yes, what
are the motives?
5) How does the single payment scheme affect the legal relations
between proprietors of the means of production and the persons
responsible for agricultural businesses?
6) What do you consider to be the legal nature of the entitlement
to payment and what impact would it have on existing property?
7) What legal problems do the different means of transfer of
the entitlement to payment bring about for the new regulatory
regime in the individual member states?
8) Do you consider the limits of the transfer of the entitlement
to payment adequate or not?
9) Do you consider the provisions which authorise the constitution
of the national reserve sufficient and adequate?
10) Do you consider that the cases of “farmers finding
themselves in a special situation” within the meaning
of the Regulation would adapt to the practices of agricultural
tenancies or transfer of agricultural property and of agricultural
businesses within each of the member states?
11) Which other cases do you think should be included in the
“farmers finding themselves in a special situation”
in order to attribute the reference amount from the national
reserve?
12) Do you consider that the system of exceptions and the optional
implementation of some aspects of the single payment scheme
poses a danger of renationalising the CAP? Or, on the contrary,
do you consider this to be a positive development?
13) What do you think of the model of modulation finally approved
and the impact it has on agricultural businesses in your country?
14) Do you consider the model of modulation and the mechanism
for financial discipline may permit a better balance between
the two pillars?
15) What do you think will be the consequences from the foreseeable
financial perspectives for pricing and market policy up to 2013
and for the uncertainty as regards the budget destined for the
rural development from 2007 onwards?
16) What are the real consequences of the provisions based on
the principle of cross compliance of direct payments?
17) What is the scope of liability for non-compliance with the
provisions included in the priority list of 18 common norms
which have been established to guarantee cross compliance?
18) Do you consider the new measures introduced to reinforce
the support for rural development to be sufficient?
19) What do you consider will be the effects of the reform on
the common organisation of the market in cereals, rice, dried
fodder and milk?
20) What do you think will be the effects of the other planned
aid schemes for products such as durum wheat, protein crop,
nuts, etc.?
21) Do you think that the community regulatory framework contains
mechanisms which permit avoidance or fraud as compared with
the objectives of the norms?
22) Do you think that the possible advantages of the new regulation
might be neutralised by the complexity and the costs for the
management of the system
23) What do you consider will be the impact of the new regulation
on the agriculture of the Accession States incorporated into
the EU and for their process of adaptation?
24) Do you think that the new reform may fulfil the general
objectives of ensuring a fair standard of living for the agricultural
community and contributing to the conservation of rural areas?