Agriculture Working Group

Chair: Abi Bunker, RSPB
Vice Chair: Ian Woodhurst, CPRE
Secretary: Julie Middleton

The Agriculture Working Group works to support and deliver a sustainable, high quality, multi-functional rural environment through influencing and monitoring policy on rural development, agri-environment, bioenergy, and animal welfare standards. The group leads Link’s CAP Reform Campaign, which calls for a clear route map with measurable milestones for the CAP to evolve into a European Sustainable Land Management Policy by 2020.

Update from the group:

Letter to the Secretary of State

In March Link wrote to the Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, ahead of the Council of Ministers discussion in Brussels on reform of the CAP. In his response to the letter, Owen Paterson re-stated his intention to continue to push hard for a reform of the CAP ‘that delivers a good outcome on the CAP for farmers, consumers, taxpayers and the environment’.

At the end of April Link replied to the Secretary of State’s letter, encouraging him to stand firm on three key issues:

• Transfer of funding from Pillar I to Pillar II in order to support Rural Development Programme funds;
• Ensuring that greening of Pillar I payments  delivers high quality environmental outcomes;
• Prioritising agri-environment schemes within the next Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE).

Working Group meeting

On 11 April the Agriculture Working Group held a meeting to discuss priority work areas for the next quarter. Key areas of activity will include influencing the design of the next RDPE, continued work on CAP advocacy at the EU level and communication of the Link position statement on food security.

Last updated: 30 April 2013