Despite Macron’s campaign promise to support organic agriculture and the environment, the announcement yesterday of no new support for the organic sector, nor any new investment in small holders or the environment in the 2018 Common Agricultural Policy. This is a major reversal of the small but useful steps the Hollande era made towards a more sustainable agricultural sector.

After a ‘consultation’ with all the key actors in the agricultural world, including organic and paysanne unions, the Government has decided to follow the line of the big agricultural syndicate, the FNSEA, la Fédération nationale des syndicats d’exploitants agricoles . This concentrates the majority of aid in Pillar one of the CAP, essentially focusing aid on the large farms, leaving farms that work less than 52 hectares out in the cold.

While the general Common Agricultural Policy allocations are set by Brussels there is a certain margin of  manoeuvre at a national level. This is particularly pertinent in the allocation of budgets between pillar one and pillar two of the CAP. Pillar one is  direct aids and market related expenditure. The Wikipedia description of the second pillar is:

“Since 2000, the EU Rural Development Policy has been in effect, also known as the “second pillar” of the CAP. This policy aims to promote the economic, social and environmental development of the countryside. Its budget, 11% of the total EU budget, is today allocated along three axes. The first axis focuses on improving the competitiveness of the farm and forestry sector through support for restructuring, development and innovation. The second one concerns the improvement of the environment and the countryside through support for land management as well as helping to fight climate change. Such projects could for example concern preserving water quality, sustainable land management, planting trees to prevent erosion and floods. The third axis concerns improving the quality of life in rural areas and encouraging diversification of economic activity. The policy also provides support to the Leader rural development methodology, under which Local Action Groups design and carry out local development strategies for their area. Member States distribute “second pillar” funds through Rural Development Programme actions.”

Aid to organic farming, smaller mixed farming and farmers in mountainous, and economically distressed area all fall in the second pillar.

National Governments can allocate up to 15% of their total EU agricultural support to pillar two. The announcement by Ministre de l’Agriculture et de l’Alimentation, Stéphane Travert, that the pillar two funding would not be increased from its present level of 4.2% of pillar of funding is a clear indication of the disconnect between the campaign promises of Macron, and the pro big Agro orientation of his government.

Just to give you an idea of the sums being talked abut here I looked up the total funding of the top receivers of CAP funding in France on Farmsubsidy.org

Name	Amount (all years)
TEREOS	€355,862,808
SAINT LOUIS SUCRE	€287,490,301
DOUX	€251,346,626
CRISTAL UNION	€114,446,829
TILLY SABCO	€91,345,131
BANQUES CREDIT AGRICOLE	€91,177,869
FEDERATION FRANCAISE BANQUES ALIMENTAIRE	€89,054,694
COMITE REGIONAL POUR LA RECONVERSION QUALITATIVE DIFFEREE DU VIGNOBLE	€78,384,650
FRANCE LUZERNE UCAD (FRALUZ)	€73,591,231
SECOURS POPULAIRE FRANCAIS	€64,466,785

The only one of these I see any justification for is the Secour Populaire Francais, a food bank fr the poor set up by the French Communist Party.

To declare our interest, as organic herb producers we receive absolutely no pillar one funding, what we do get as organic producers is a 2,500 euro a year tax credit, and that is being abolished this year. We get no second pillar funding, despite living in a mountainous, economically distressed area. With announcement like this it appears we will not get any support in the future either. Oh if only we were a huge multinational sugar company.

The Conferation Paysanne did not waste their words, I could not agree more.

PAC 2018 : La trahison gouvernementale !

27.07.2017 Après un simulacre de consultation des acteurs agricoles, le gouvernement a clairement laissé la FNSEA* arbitrer la PAC* 2018. Il fait donc le choix dangereux de léser la grande majorité des paysans au bénéfice d’une minorité. Il n’aura pas fallu longtemps pour que les promesses de campagne du candidat Macron soient enterrées par les lobbies !

L’Etat français s’apprête en effet à porter un coup fatal à l’emploi agricole, en ne majorant pas davantage les 52 premiers hectares, et donc en défavorisant les fermes les plus pourvoyeuses d’emploi. Il met également en grand danger tous les paysans installés en zone de handicap naturel en n’anticipant absolument pas les besoins de financement de l’ICHN* liés à l’extension prochaine du zonage. Il va ensuite sacrifier l’agriculture biologique en retirant ses financements à l’aide au maintien. Comme si cela ne suffisait pas, il compte laisser un trou budgétaire béant dans le financement des mesures agro-environnementales et climatiques, mettant en péril un dispositif qui permet concrètement aux paysans de s’engager progressivement dans la transition vers une agriculture plus écologique.

Au vu de ce tableau, il est légitime de douter de la capacité du gouvernement à organiser des Etats Généraux de l’Alimentation libérés de l’emprise de la FNSEA*. C’est donc avec une totale absence de confiance dans la parole et la volonté gouvernementale que la Confédération paysanne abordera ces Etats Généraux de l’Alimentation, dont la fonction même est clairement remise en cause au vu de la PAC* 2018 voulue par le gouvernement.