Nordic partners stop lobbying against Finnish agricultural subsidies

Commission's tough negotiators remain obstacles to agreement

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Finland's Nordic partners in the European Union, Sweden and Denmark, have backed down from their lobbying efforts against Finland's national agricultural subsidies provided by Article 141 of Finland's treaty of accession to the EU.
      Earlier in the autumn, efforts by Finnish Minister of Agriculture Sirkka-Liisa Anttila (Centre) to secure authorisation to continue to provide the 141 support for farmers in Southern Finland were undermined by opposition from Sweden and Denmark.
      Swedish farmers are still opposed to Finland's national subsidies, but even their national organisation is avoiding upsetting the Finns.
      "Our view is that the national subsidies are Finland's internal affair", said Göran Olsson, Brussels representative of the Federation of Swedish Farmers.
      Olsson adds, however, that the possibility of market distortions is a cause for concern. In practice, he is worried over cheap food imports from Finland.
      "Examples of this have been seen in the egg, pork, and poultry sector", he says.
     
The end of the efforts by Sweden and Denmark to fight Finland's special subsidies does not yet mean that there are no obstacles Finland's hopes to get an extension to the Article 141 support.
      Anttila nevertheless said that partial agreement was reached in talks in Brussels on Thursday, to the effect that Finland could continue to pay its southern farmers national subsidies of EUR 93.9 million in 2008.
      However, the Commission is not confirming the partial agreement; the basic rule in EU negotiations is that nothing is agreed on until everything is agreed on.
      "It was a constructive meeting. There was some progress to be seen. However, we are expecting to get more numbers and material from Finland", a spokesperson for Mariann Fischer Boel, the European Commissioner for Agriculture, told Helsingin Sanomat.
      Anttila and Fischer Boel will continue their discussions on Tuesday next week in Brussels.
     
If no solution comes then, bargaining could continue until late December.
      "I am looking forward to the Christmas holidays, and to being able to sleep well", Anttila said in Brussels on Thursday.
      She also said that she expects the talks to come to a conclusion already next week.
      Subsidies for Northern Finland - under Article 142 of the accession treaty - are not in jeopardy in the ongoing discussions. The issue at hand only concerns support enjoyed by farmers in the south of Finland, which is paid out of the pockets of Finnish taxpayers.
     
A number of unresolved issues remain.
      The main question is how many years the national subsidies will be allowed to continue, and how much the subsidies are to decline each year.
      The Commission has been adamant that the subsidies were a "temporary measure", while the Finns have understood that the support for their southern farmers was granted in perpetuity - and the issue is politically significant above all for the Centre Party, who have strong links with the agrarian population.
     
A big challenge for Finland is to convince the Commission that the 141 subsidies should be extended until the years 2012-2013.
      The differences between the two sides are sharp in this. The Commission wants a short and rapid cutoff, while Finland would prefer a long gradual phase-out.
      Anttila said that Finland is calling for a three per cent annual reduction.
     
The EU's subsidies for disadvantageous natural conditions could compensate for part of the cutbacks in the Article 141 supports, but the exact form that this subsidy will take remains uncertain.
      The Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK) said on Thursday that it is disappointed that no final agreement was reached on Thursday.
      "Farmers' uncertainty of the future continues", MTK noted.
     
While Finland is trying to convince the Commission of the need for continued 141 subsidies, the Commission is taking steps for extensive reform in the EU's Common Agricultural Policy.
      The Commission wants to simplify the EU's agricultural policy, and to make it more efficient. The crucial time for national lobbying will be over the next six or seven months.
      Commissioner Fischer Boel takes a generally negative view of national subsidies. She feels that they do not suit the EU's common market idea well.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  No agreement in Brussels talks on future of Article 141 agricultural subsidies (22.11.2007)
  No More Mr. Nice Guy Finland (3.11.2007)
  EU Commissioner for Agriculture: Finland´s temporary 141-Support cannot continue forever (29.10.2007)
  Vanhanen sees Article 141 as the only way that Finland can secure livelihood of its farmers (24.10.2007)
  Spat among Nordic EU states on farm subsidies (12.10.2007)

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