The EU’s new Agriculture Commissioner, Romanian national Dacian Ciolos, declared, on 15 February, that he prefers to launch a debate on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy after 2013 “rather than rushing into making proposals” for this reform. “My objective is to launch a public debate next spring that includes actors from the agriculture sector as well as from society at large” in order to “ask the right questions,” he said at a press conference with Spanish Minister Elena Espinosa, during his visit to Madrid. Ciolos seeks a “revamped, reformed and adapted CAP, but a solid policy that is ready to take up important challenges,” like “green growth” and “maintaining jobs”.

The negotiations on the CAP for 2013-2020 will begin this year and the discussions could lead to “battles over the distribution” of financial resources, said German Minister Ilse Aigner, in January. “We have to see what types of mechanisms should be put in place and then we’ll examine the budget. If we are able to show that this policy is still relevant, we will have a budget equal to our ambition,” said Ciolos.

“We have to fight to have a CAP beyond 2013” and “to maintain a strong agrifood sector,” declared the Spanish minister.