mr president commissioner we are at the very early stages of the debate which leads up to the common agricultural policy reform post twenty twelve
in this report i suggested some of the principles which should underlie the reformed common agricultural policy
it is clear that the agricultural industry needs to change
it will need to change in order to reflect both the challenges of the times in which we now live but more the times which are to come
those will be issues such as food security market volatility climate change and the need to adequately meet the expectations for the delivery of public goods
it is clear therefore that the common agricultural policy has to change in order to reflect those challenges but it is also clear that the way we apply the common agricultural policy needs to change
in setting out these principles that should underlie the reformed common agricultural policy i have deliberately not gone into detail that will come in later reports
but what i have developed is two main themes
firstly that the common agricultural policy needs to be simpler fairer and more transparent and that secondly the culture of the common agricultural policy needs to change that a future reformed common agricultural policy ought to be more outcome-driven and less burdened with excessive regulation
i have highlighted four ways in which we can reduce the bureaucratic burden on farm businesses
firstly we should ensure that the requirements made of the industry are proportionate to the risk assessed
secondly we could harmonise inspections standards and we should cut out the duplication of inspection standards and procedures required of the industry
thirdly there could or should be greater scope for self-certification within the industry and fourthly we need to ensure that the penalties imposed on farm businesses are commensurate to the scale of the infringement rather than the current inappropriate flat-rate penalties especially in those cases where infringements were not the fault of the farmer
in my view one objective of the common agricultural policy should be to help and encourage the industry to adapt to these new challenges
to do that there is a need for a change of culture in the common agricultural policy
it does need to adopt a more flexible lighter-touch approach
there needs to be greater consultation with the stakeholders of the industry and in particular in order to better assess the impact of proposed regulation
it also needs to be easier to interpret
the reformed common agricultural policy must be able to publicly demonstrate the industry's delivery of public goods
it must find ways to reduce the cost to the industry of complying with its requirements and finally it must effectively and efficiently and fairly manage the industry
this report sets out a number of ways that that can be achieved
