Agriculture ministers from across the EU have indicated their support for the European Commission’s plan to simplify the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Earlier this month, the commission announced proposals to simplify aspects of CAP, including a proposal to exempt farms under 10ha from conditionality and the related controls and penalties.
The commission has also proposed relaxing the requirements under a number of Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAECs), which are a key aspect of conditionality.
Those proposals were made on foot of protests by farmers in several EU countries, with the European Parliament elections just around the corner in June.
Yesterday (Tuesday, March 26) was the first opportunity for the EU’s agriculture ministers to meet in the Council of the EU since these proposals were put forward, with ministers giving their backing to the plans.
This follows an earlier meeting of the council’s Special Committee on Agriculture (which is composed of non-political representatives from member states, and which informs and prepares the work of the council), in which member states endorsed the plans.
The council also backed separate but related plans by the commission to strengthen the position of farmers in the food supply chain by, among other measures, setting up an observatory on production costs, margins and trading practices.
A statement from the council after yesterday’s agriculture ministers meeting said: “The council welcomed the recent initiatives and proposals made by the commission… The council also stressed the importance of ensuring fair renumeration for farmers and of increasing transparency in the food supply chain.
“The council welcomed the commission’s initiatives in this regard,” the statement added.
Copa Cogeca, the organisation representing farmer associations and agricultural co-operatives in the EU, has welcomed the “positive signal” from the council.
Copa called on the European Parliament to follow suit and also support the commission’s proposals.
The CAP simplification plan will need the backing of both the council and the parliament before they can be put into force.
“Copa Cogeca believes that these changes will provide more flexibility to farmers in implementing the transition towards a more sustainable agriculture in a way which considers the soil, climatic and local conditions…across the EU,” the group said.
“These measures don’t alter the main objectives of the CAP but provide the necessary flexibility for farmers to be able to adapt their practices and respond in a sustainable way to the ever-aggravating pressures from more frequent climatic events, geopolitical instability and market uncertainties.”
Copa called on the measures, if adopted, to be applied retroactively to January 2024.
“We know call on the European Parliament to swiftly engage and provide positive feedback by the end of April on the proposals so that they can be implemented by farmers on the ground,” the organisation said.
However, a letter from Copa Cogeca to the EU’s member states’ agriculture ministers last week warned that assurance would be needed that the exemption of small farmers below 10ha from controls would not lead to more controls on other, larger farmers, thus creating an “unlevel playing field”.