* Warsaw wants CAP budget kept at present level in 2014-2020
* Will urge equal payments to farmers during EU presidency
* Says EU should intervene to calm price volatility now
By Gabriela Baczynska and Maciej Onoszko
WARSAW, March 25 (Reuters) - Poland wants the European Union to keep farm spending at current levels in the next multi-year budget for 2014-20 and, during its presidency of the bloc later this year, will champion the idea of equal payments per hectare.
Polish Farm Minister Marek Sawicki also told Reuters in an interview that the EU should intervene aggressively to tame price volatility of agricultural products.
The 27-nation EU is heading towards a reform of its Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) as part of efforts to cement a deal on the next long-term budget, but radical change is unlikely despite calls from Britain and Sweden.
The CAP currently costs some 55 billion euros ($77.9 billion) a year, or about 40 percent of overall EU spending.
"None of the proposals on the table is currently acceptable to Poland. We will be working with the European Commission aiming to have our proposals included in the final CAP document," Sawicki said.
Warsaw wants equal direct payments per hectare to farmers across the bloc, a move opposed by France, Germany and other states. Poland also wants to stop calculating payments based on historical production and switch to an area-based target.
The size of payments currently ranges from less than 100 euros per hectare in Latvia to above 400 euros in Greece, Malta and Belgium, with the average set at around 270 euros.
"If politicians don't understand that subsidies must be calculated on the basis of just rules, the whole CAP will fall apart," Sawicki said.
The Commission, the EU's executive arm, is due to make legislative proposals in October, midway through Poland's six-month presidency of the bloc. Poland is a net beneficiary of the CAP, as are France, Spain and Italy, among others.
Sawicki said it was unrealistic to expect a rise in the CAP budget, given the financial woes of many member states, but he added that spending should remain intact due to increased responsibilities handed to farmers under a 2008 CAP reform.
"CAP funding must remain at least at current levels to allow it to deliver on all its (new) tasks," he said, referring to environmental protection and promotion of renewable energy.
INTERVENTION
Sawicki dismissed suggestions that EU subsidies contributed to rising food price inflation and blamed speculation, adding that farmers were not benefiting from the higher prices.
"Europe should actively use the mechanism of intervention purchases. And the purchase price should not be lower than production costs," he said, adding that he saw appropriate wheat prices at 125-130 euros per tonne.
"One year we pay 110 euros and then 240 euros per tonne of wheat. If at least some of it were stored, the price would be much less volatile."
EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos said on Thursday that establishing public grain stocks to combat food price volatility was unlikely. Sawicki criticised the commissioner's comments as "irresponsible".
Sawicki said the EU and other international institutions such as the World Trade Organisation, the World Bank and the G-20 should make deliveries obligatory for agricultural goods bought on the futures market to help curb speculation.
"Food markets are specific, they are not like any other market. The wars in the Arab world did not stem from a longing for democracy but for bread. If the Euro-Atlantic community wants to avoid conflicts, it must introduce mechanisms to limit speculation on food markets," Sawicki said. (Writing by Maciej Onoszko, editing by Gareth Jones and Jane Baird) (maciej.onoszko@thomsonreuters.com; +48 22 653 9711; RM:maciej.onoszko.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) ($1=.7062 Euro)