The Council of the EU, which brings together the government ministers from each member state, has formally adopted a budget – the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) – for 2021 to 2027.
The €1.07 trillion budget will be bolstered by the ‘Next Generation EU’ recovery instrument, which adds €750 billion to the monies to be allocated over the coming years.
It brings to €1.8 trillion the funding that will be provided over the lifetime of the MFF, which is partially aimed at economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The EAGF will receive €258.6 billion, while the EAFRD will receive €77.8 billion.
As well as that, Next Generation EU will provide an additional €7.5 billion to the EAFRD, while (outside CAP but within Natural Resources and Environment, one of the EU’s seven main spending areas) a Just Transition Fund will also benefit to the tune of €10 million from Next Generation EU (just transition funding when Next Generation is not included is set to be €7.5 billion).
As all the above figures are in 2018 constant prices, they reflect the value of money in that year, and wouldn’t take account of price inflation in the years ahead.
The council said that CAP will “undergo modernisation to ensure that [it] best contributes to Europe’s economic recovery and the EU’s Green Ambition”.
Approval granted for scheme rollovers
In other CAP-related news, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue confirmed recently that European Commission approval was received for the continuity of farm schemes in 2021.
Announcing the news at the end of last week, Minister McConalogue said: “I am delighted to confirm that, following the approval by the European Commission of the amendment to the Rural Development Programme, we now have continuity of farm payments in 2021 for the main farm schemes.”
These include: the Green, Low-Carbon Agri-environment Scheme (GLAS); the Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) scheme; the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP); the Sheep Welfare Scheme; and Organic Farming Scheme.