WRITTEN QUESTION E-2444/02

by Christel Fiebiger (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(28 August 2002)

Subject: Commissioner Fischler's remark on direct payments to large holdings

In Commission press release IP/02/1125 of 23 July 2002, Franz Fischler in Berlin: Farm policy cannot turn a blind eye to society's expectations, Commissioner Fischler is quoted as saying, on the proposed upper limit on direct payments, that it is not fair for 80 % of the money to go to 20 % of the largest holdings.

This remark has given the public the impression, as can be verified by reports in the media, that the 20 % of the largest holdings means holdings with a farmed area of 1000 or more hectares (especially as the proposed capping ceiling would affect a large proportion of such holdings) and that it is these holdings that receive 80 % of direct payments. But this is manifestly incorrect.

At farmers' meetings I have attended, justifying the proposal on ceilings in this way (irrespective of how its substance is assessed) was felt to be politically unfair. It would therefore be advisable either to provide hard evidence to back up this, in my view misleading, remark or to rectify it.

Therefore the following questions:

1. What concrete statistical evidence is there to back up the remark concerning direct payments that 80 % of the money goes to 20 % of the largest holdings (for the EU as a whole and for individual Member States)?

2. What specific business and/or statistical criteria does the Commission use for defining large holdings, and what are the key figures for the 20 % of the largest holdings subcategory?

3. What proportion of all agricultural holdings, of all farmed land and of all direct payments do (a) large holdings and (b) 20 % of the largest holdings account for (in the EU and broken down by Member State)?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(25 September 2002)

The statement that around 80 % of direct payments go to 20 % of the farms has been made on the basis of estimates from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN).

The FADN is a source of harmonised micro-economic data that is collected on the basis of an annual survey of a representative sample of holdings. The survey does not cover all the agricultural holdings in the Union but only those which due to their size could be considered commercial by the Member State concerned. Due to statistical uncertainty such estimates should only be taken as a broad indication of the distribution of payments at a Community level.

As the Honourable Member suggests, it would be incorrect to suggest that holdings with a farm area of 1000 or more hectares account for 80 % of direct payments. However, the farms which receive the largest amount of payments tend also to be farms with the largest farmed area, particularly in the arable crops and beef sectors. The Commission has no specific criteria for defining large holdings.

The absolute level of payments received by a single farm is an issue of the social acceptability of direct payments. In the current system single landowners or farms can receive large sums of public support. Capping is not meant to work against large scale farming, but intends to set a certain limit to public support going to a single farm. Furthermore, in the Commission's view, the use of payments above the capping level for rural development measures would be a more efficient use of public resources in the regions concerned.

More accurate information on the distribution of payments is available within Commission payment databases. Subject to confidentiality requirements and technical feasibility, more detailed information will be shortly made available to the Parliament.