An Agricultural Reserve is included under the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) with a set amount to be locked in to this financial instrument, the European Council has confirmed.
In the conclusion document arising from the marathon council talks that have taken place over the last few days in Brussels, provisions are in place for such a reserve under CAP.
According to the council document, the Agricultural Reserve – a replacement for the current Agricultural Crisis Reserve – is “intended to provide support for the agricultural sector for the purpose of market management or stabilisation or in the case of crises affecting the agricultural production or distribution”.
It “shall be established at the beginning of each year in the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund [EAGF]”, the council conclusions note.
The amount of the Agricultural Reserve shall be €450 million in current prices at the beginning of each year of the period 2021- 2027.
The unused amounts of the Agricultural Crisis Reserve in financial year 2020 will be carried over to financial year 2021 to set up the reserve, the document notes, adding that the exact years are to be synchronised with the CAP transitional period.
Non-committed appropriations of the Agricultural Reserve shall be carried over to finance the next Agricultural Reserve.
In case the reserve is used, it will be refilled using existing revenue assigned to the EAGF, margins available under the EAGF subceiling or, as a last resort, by the financial discipline mechanism, the council document concludes.