Dear Mr Bell Thank you for your email concerning the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Whilst I share your concerns about the welfare of farm animals, I do not believe that the amendments you highlight would deal with the real challenges of the next CAP reform. Namely, to ensure that we can feed a growing global population and produce more food, but using less resources and causing less of an impact to the environment. The European Union already boasts some of the highest standards of animal welfare in the world, which the UK, unlike some other countries enforces and often makes even stronger. Furthermore, the European Conservatives do not agree with the inference that high intensity livestock production is necessarily bad for animal welfare. The EU has developed the most sustainable farm regulations in the world, allowing for both high levels of animal welfare and environmental protection and our farmers produce along much higher standards than many third countries. The view of the European Conservatives is that so long as producers meet the legally imposed standards required by regulation, animal health is not negatively impacted by intensive food production. We do not support the capping of payments to large farms as we do not agree that high intensity livestock farming is, by definition, bad for animal welfare. Small farms could have poor conditions for animal welfare while larger farms could have excellent animal welfare records. Nor do we support the greening of direct payments or increased market regulation. In our opinion, the way forward is a more liberalised CAP based closer to market needs, with a reduction on direct payments and a greater reliance on the global market. The greening elements of the future CAP should be provided through rural development funding where they can be much more closely tailored to local requirements. In light of the challenges presented by a growing and more affluent global population, the real challenge of CAP reform lies in producing more food while using less land, less inputs and all the while, producing food sustainably. Addressing the key points of your email, with regards to the capping of payments, direct payments under the current CAP are based on meeting cross compliance criteria for every hectare of land. Were payments to be capped for some farms, as you suggest, this would undermine the principle that was developed in the last CAP reform, namely to bring all agricultural land under cross compliance regulations and to provide a payment to keep that land in good agricultural and environmental condition. Turning then to greening payments, the European Conservatives do not agree with the inference that industrialised farming is 'bad,' nor do we agree with the notion that it is inherently worse for the

environment or animal welfare than small farms. As a strong supporter of rural communities, I understand your concern for the need to protect small farms and I believe that they are important to our rural fabric yet small farms will not, on their own, meet the vast demand for more food. The cost of food is rising on a global level. Market regulation of food production must be cautiously approached so that it does not contribute to this phenomenon. European Conservatives consider that barriers to trade are the biggest cause of rising prices. Recent unilateral trade bans by Russia and Argentina have caused world prices to hike even further upwards. Market regulation and the lack of a true global marketplace for agriculture have further exacerbated price hikes. With regards to the food chain, European Conservatives favour voluntary regulation in our free market wherein farmers may freely negotiate contracts with suppliers. European Conservatives believe that while it is important to have a domestic production of protein crops, proteins can in general be more efficiently grown in many other parts of the world. It is our view that we should therefore use our land to produce crops that are efficient to produce in Europe, rather than subsidise an expensive crop which we could easily buy on the global marketplace for less. On the subject of food security, the European Conservatives agree that unequal access to food is a major crisis, caused by marketdistorting agricultural subsidies, tariffs and barriers to trade which exist throughout the world. A more liberalised global market for agricultural goods would create significant change in this area. Food waste is another important issue and the European Conservatives agree that more needs to be done on this issue. Nonetheless, many EU countries contribute to the problem by banning the sale of food below the cost of production. This means that just before closing time in a supermarket in France or Belgium, the supermarket can not discount food in order to sell it but rather, they have to throw it away. European Conservatives are committed to tackling this problem. A further issue is the shift away from meat consumption. In my own constituency I know that people often forget that most meat in the West Country comes from grass-fed livestock, which graze the hills and do not need large quantities of feed. This method of food production helps to ensure that the West Country keeps its landscape of rolling, green and productive hills. Eating meat is therefore not always as bad for the environment as is sometimes suggested. As a Member of the European Parliament representing a flourishing agricultural region, I understand the importance of providing support to farmers who wish to apply high standards. I also understand the wishes of consumers to ensure that their food has come from animals which have been farmed ethically and within good

animal welfare conditions. Our farmers already produce to very high standards and further EU legislation which would undermine their ability to produce the food necessary to meet growing global demand, especially at a time of rising food prices, would not, in my opinion, be the right approach. I would like to thank you for writing to me and I appreciate your concern. I hope that this email addresses your reservations about CAP reform in Europe. Yours sincerely Julie Girling MEP Conservative Member for the South West & Gibraltar