Re-orientating direct support for agriculture

Within the framework of the reflections on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the method used to distribute direct aid to European farms occupies a prime position. This subject is currently arousing very lively debate for three main reasons. i) Member states have to agree on the future budget of the European Union (EU) for 2014-2020, in a delicate economic context. ii) The increased volatility in the prices of agricultural produce tends to weaken the legitimacy of a support system essentially based on decoupled payments, and therefore, independent of actual prices. iii) The community authorities wish to redirect, through new statutory texts (October, 2011), a portion of the direct aid towards better remuneration for the environmental responsibilities placed on farmers. In this paper we will cover the three main subjects which have fed our reflection since 2008: the analysis of the redistributive effects of the measures taken within the framework of the health check-up of the CAP; the assessment of the economic sensitivity of farms to several proposed scenarios for redistribution of direct aid; and the development of debate over the advantages and limitations of decoupled supports in this new context and in the face of the new challenges confronting French and European agriculture.