Common agricultural policy CAP, reform: cereals, common organisation of the market CMO

The committee adopted the report by Dominique SOUCHET (IND, F) amending the proposal under the consultation procedure. It wanted to temper the Commission's plans by preserving basic intervention measures for cereals, and therefore called for only partial (rather than total) decoupling of aid for all cereals except durum wheat. MEPs also disagreed with the proposed cut in the intervention price. Whereas the Commission wanted to reduce it by 5.9% to EUR 95.35 per tonne, with half of this reduction being offset by direct aid, the committee urged that the price be set at EUR 112 per tonne as of July 2003. Turning to the different types of cereal, for rye the committee urged that "indicative maximum quantities" be laid down for each Member State, whereas the Commission had proposed that rye should be completely excluded from intervention funding. MEPs wanted direct aid for durum wheat, with higher aid levels in poorer areas (the Commission would eliminate differing regional rates). The committee felt that production refunds for starch should be preserved and not eliminated as proposed by the Commission. For starch potatoes, MEPs said that current intervention measures should continue, notably by keeping the minimum price system and introducing partial aid decoupling at a rate of 25%.�