John Battle - Time To Reform The Common Agricultural Policy

"Every cow in Europe gets subsidies of 2 Euros a day, which is more than half of the world’s population have to live on,” says John. “EU governments spend enough money on the Common Agricultural Policy every year to fly all their 21 million dairy cows around the world - with £400 spending money each.”

John tabled Early Day Motion 1432 in the House of Commons in June calling on the government to press more urgently for CAP reform.

“The problem is that heavily subsidized European exports undercut third world farmers who already find it tough to earn a living, not just from cattle but wheat, sugar and all kinds of produce. It destroys livelihoods in poor countries and I have seen for myself the damage that does. But ironically at the same time as we spend so much money on subsidizing exports, these are difficult times for many of our small farmers, and I want the EU to change the way the Common Agricultural Policy works to make it benefit British small farmers more as well as farmers in the world’s poorest countries, and to reward farmers who care for the environment.

“The government have done a good job increasing Britain’s aid budget, but - as Trade Minister Patricia Hewitt said last week - we also need to persuade our European colleagues to look at the impact we have on the world’s poorest people and make trade rules fairer.”

The full text of the motion is:

“That this House believes that the negative effects of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy, especially its export subsidies on farm livelihoods in developing countries are all out of proportion to the benefits it brings to British and European farmers; accepts that changes in the overall cost of the CAP are unlikely to be achieved in the medium term; and therefore urges the Government to continue to press for a more rapid phasing out of export subsidies and reform and redistribution of the CAP towards small farmers, the environment and rural livelihoods.”