A conference organised by the European Commission in Brussels on July 19-20 gathered EU agriculture stakeholders to discuss the EU executive's proposals to reform the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) later this year: the outcomes revealed that the EU is called to move away from intensive farming to a more sustainable model that supports the economic renaissance of rural areas.

Part of a wider public debate on the EU's future farm policy, the conference attracted some 600 participants from the fields of agriculture and rural development. The upcoming CAP reform was seen by many as am opportunity to achieve a "paradigm shift" from centralised intensive production towards a more territorial approach that values local differences as well as the environment, EurActiv.com reported.

Diversity of local products and cultural identities can be a "source of wealth" and should be promoted, said Sabine Laruelle, minister of agriculture for Belgium, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

Ideas for diversifying economic activity in rural areas include supporting farmers who process their own raw materials and renewable energy as well as initiatives to promote tourism.

EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos (pictured) agreed on the need to maintain agricultural activity in all rural areas. "The future CAP needs to be able to support this diversity," he said. But he stressed that both small and large farms have a role to play in the future CAP, as their contribution can vary depending on the region in which they are based. "All can deliver goods and we need to support this," he said.

Whether or not to slash the future CAP budget to free up money for other EU priorities is one of the most contentious issues in the farm reform and a major source of tension between CAP supporters like France and critics such as the UK and the Netherlands.

The farm budget will be debated in the context of a general review of the EU budget, on which talks are set to be launched after the summer break.

Concrete proposals for the EU's next multi-annual financial framework will be tabled in July 2011, in parallel with the Commission's legislative proposals on CAP reform.

The French and German ministers of agriculture, Bruno Le Maire and Ilse Aigner, announced this week that they would come up with a joint position on the future of CAP in September this year. The aim is to avoid a repeat of the difficult EU budget negotiations for the current financial period (2007-2013), which saw former French President Jacques Chirac lock horns with German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Picture: EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos