VZCZCXRO0767
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHFR #1585/01 1091459
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191459Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6622
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
RUEHMRE/AMCONSUL MARSEILLE 1673
RUEHSR/AMCONSUL STRASBOURG 0401
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2649
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 001585 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
BRUSSELS PASS USEU FOR AGMINCOUNSELOR 
STATE FOR EB; EUR/ERA, EEB/TPP/ABT(SPIRNAK); 
STATE PASS USTR FOR MURPHY; MOWRY; VERONEAU 
USDA/OS/JOHANNS/TERPSTRA; 
USDA/FAS FOR OA/YOST; 
OCRA/CURTIS 
ONA/RIEMENSCHNEIDER 
STA/SIMMONS/JONES/HENNEY 
FAA/YOUNG; 
EU POSTS PASS TO AGRICULTURE AND ECON 
GENEVA FOR USTR, ALSO AGRICULTURE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR ETRD KPAO EU FR
SUBJECT: MAIN FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES AGRICULTURE PROPOSALS 
 
 
PARIS 00001585  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: Although the farm population makes up less than 4 
percent of the French electorate it's political influence has been, 
during the tenure of President Chirac, disproportionately strong. 
In this Presidential campaign, the agricultural policies of the main 
candidates have not been a major issue.  What the candidates have 
said suggests that the policy priorities of the three main 
Presidential candidates, Nicolas Sarkozy, Segolene Royal and 
Francois Bayrou will differ significantly from Chirac's. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) ECON and FAS have met with the agricultural advisors of 
the three leading candidates to discuss their visions on some major 
agricultural topics.  All 3 candidates accepted that changes to the 
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are necessary, but they resist any 
full reform before 2013.  Biofuel production also receives their 
full support.  Sarkozy appears to be more open to agricultural 
biotechnology than Royal and Bayrou, who both support a biotech 
moratorium.  Both Sarkozy and Royal propose merging the traditional 
Ministry of Agriculture with another Ministry, such as Economy or 
Environment.  While Mr. Sarkozy is seen as less likely to veto a 
Doha agreement than Chirac, none of the candidates offer much 
support to the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations.    End 
Summary. 
 
Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP) 
------------------ 
¶3.  (SBU) As French farmers have traditionally voted for the right, 
Mr. Sarkozy may hope, as the President of the UMP (center-right), to 
keep this vote. However, he is seen as being far removed from the 
farm sector, having spent most of his life in and around Paris. 
Sarkozy's association with the same conservative party as Chirac may 
help to offset this perception. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) According to his agricultural advisor Antoine Herth, 
Nicolas Sarkozy supports the proposition that farmers' income should 
be increasingly based on their work rather than subsidies, and he 
hopes that growth in non-food uses will raise commodity prices and 
achieve this goal.  Sarkozy believes biofuels represent a bright 
future for French agriculture.  He supports industrial biofuel 
production, which could generate more than 40,000 jobs, on-farm 
production of biofuels for local markets, and research for second 
generation biofuels. He is expected to continue the government-based 
tax incentives for biofuel production. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) While opposed to a CAP reform prior to 2013, Sarkozy is 
open to modest adjustments under the 2008 "health check" to 
streamline and reduce red tape.  He has suggested that the CAP may 
need to further distinguish between large-scale, intensive, and more 
small-scale, rural based production. Crop insurance and renewable 
energy issues would be part of these policies. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Sarkozy is the most flexible candidate on agricultural 
biotechnology.  However, he is still skeptical about its' 
advantages.  He supports biotech research as "indispensable" and 
favors open-field testing within a "strict and transparent" 
regulatory framework.  He does not favor a moratorium on biotech 
products. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Sarkozy opposes a Doha agreement that would lower EU 
tariffs excessively for agricultural goods.  He is, however, less 
likely than President Chirac to veto an agreement that would 
negatively impact French agriculture, if he believes that offsetting 
gains had been achieved in NAMA and service sectors. 
 
Segolene Royal (PS) 
------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Segolene Royal, despite the fact that she represents a 
rural constituency, does not garner strong support from the farm 
sector.  Her call for a merger of the Ministry of Agriculture and 
Environment was received with hostility.  She is critical of 
intensive agriculture as damaging the environment, which has also 
 
PARIS 00001585  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
not proven popular with the farm vote. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) According to Royal's ag advisor Stephane Le Foll, the 2008 
CAP review should not focus exclusively on budget issues, but 
explore other aspects, such as the vertical organization of 
agricultural sectors rather than the Common Market Organizations and 
strengthening of the rural development pillar.  In the longer term, 
instead of direct subsidies and environmental levies, she favors a 
contract-based system where farmers would be subsidized only after 
matching contracted goals.  According to Royal, such a system could 
actually reduce EU farm spending. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Royal has criticized repeatedly the fact that "20 percent 
of the farmers benefit from 80 percent of public support." Her plan 
is to change several aspects of this support.  If elected, Royal 
would provide publicly the recipients and amount of direct farm 
subsidies, which, to date, French authorities have not been willing 
to divulge.  In addition, perhaps due to her position as President 
of the regional authority Poitou-Charente, she has called for the 
management of direct farm subsidies by regional authorities rather 
than by the central government.  Note: This measure would require an 
amendment to the French Constitution. End Note. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Royal is strongly opposed to agricultural biotechnology. 
In fact, her advisor for environmental issues is a former director 
of Greenpeace France.  In the name of the precautionary principle, 
she opposes open-field test plots and commercial production of 
biotech crops until after the results of a large public debate 
(which she would organize) are published. Her agricultural 
representative suggested that agronomical alternatives, instead of 
biotech, could increase the economic and ecological competitiveness 
of French farmers, including no-till practices, diversifying 
varieties, and strengthening research on soil rather than 
exclusively on crop varieties. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Royal does not have a strong free trade posture and 
opposes a WTO agreement that would open EU agriculture markets.  Her 
ag adviser criticized the U.S. stance on this issue, remarking that 
American farmers would not benefit from such an agreement either, 
contrary to farmers based in countries like Brazil. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Royal supports biofuel production, specifically for 
biomass production based on wood, reflecting her position that 
biofuel production cannot occur at the expense of food production. 
 
 
Francois Bayrou (UDF) 
-------------------- 
 
¶14.  (SBU) Mr. Bayrou, the center UDF candidate, is perceived as 
having the closest agricultural roots due to his status as a farmer' 
s son and a horse breeder.  According to his ag advisors Jean-Luc 
Duval and Frederic Descrozailles, he favors an increase in farm 
prices so that "farm policy is based on farm prices rather than 
subsidies that collapse prices."  Bayrou suggests that farm income 
could be stabilized through fiscal mechanisms, such as tax-free 
savings. 
 
¶15.  (SBU) Unlike Sarkozy, Bayrou officially supports a moratorium 
on biotechnology.  Bayrou's ecologist leanings are likely connected 
to his advisor Jean-Marie Pelt, an anti-biotech environmentalist. 
Bayrou stated that, if elected, he would ask the French Academy of 
Sciences to review the biotech risks of dissemination for food and 
pharmacological research. 
 
¶16. (SBU) As a method to increase farmers' income Bayrou supports 
biofuel production and would increase support for French biofuel 
development research. However, his advisors expressed concerns about 
maintaining resource demands between food and non-food uses and 
balancing prices. 
 
¶17.  (SBU) As to the WTO, Bayrou, insists that the force of the 
French position does not rest only on its interests but on a more 
 
PARIS 00001585  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
global vision where the discussions are based on an analysis of 
problems of the developing countries. Furthermore, Bayrou's advisors 
believed trade liberalization has failed to increase farmers income. 
 Recently, however, Bayrou condemned Commissioner Mandelson for 
tampering with agricultural subsidies as a prelude to the WTO talks. 
 
 
¶18. (SBU) Concerning the future of the CAP, France, in order to 
regain political weight within the EU, should extend its 
agricultural alliances beyond its traditional partners, such as 
Germany, to other major agricultural producers including Poland, and 
Romania. 
 
¶19. (SBU) Comment:  French farmers are aware that the next French 
President, whether left, center, or center-right, will treat 
agriculture differently than the previous administration. 
Agriculture has not been a major focus during the campaign and 2008 
CAP review and 2013 CAP reform will undoubtedly introduce changes to 
the French agriculture community.  End Comment. 
 
White