The European Commission has proposed reducing on-farm visits by national administrations by up to 50% in a bid to reduce the administrative burden on EU farmers.
The proposal has been made by the commission to the Belgian presidency as part of the first possible actions directly requested from member states.
The Commission proposed streamlining and clarifying how to assess the quality of the area monitoring system (AMS).
This is based on automated analysis of satellite imagery from Copernicus, meant to reduce inspections on farms, help farmers to avoid errors and incur penalties, as well as facilitating reporting.
According to the commission, with fewer visits from the administration to manage, farmers will have more time to “dedicate to their core work”.
The document, which will be discussed with member states in the agricultural council on February 26, lists a range of short and mid-term actions that can be taken to achieve simplification for farmers.
It will serve as the basis for discussions and joint action with EU countries.
Proposals
The commission also proposed simplifying the requirements whereby EU farmers need to comply to receive the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) support.
The EU Commission now proposes to change the rules on the first standard GAEC 1 (good agricultural and environmental conditions).
The standard imposes a requirement to keep areas of permanent grassland in the EU stable since reference year 2018.
Under the new proposal, rules by mid-March would change to ensure that structural changes caused by market reorientation and reduction in livestock are taken into account.
Another proposal clarifies the use of the concept of force majeure and exceptional circumstances.
This would allow farmers who cannot fulfil all their CAP requirements due to exceptional events, such as floods, to not have penalties imposed.
The clarification will support national administrations to ensure its uniform across the EU.
The commission also proposed allowing small farms of under 10ha to be exempt from controls related to compliance with GAECs.
The exemption would simplify the daily work of small farmers who represent 65% of CAP beneficiaries.
It would also maintain the CAP’s environmental ambitions since small farms cover only 9.6% of the areas receiving CAP support.
EU Commission
To continue support, the EU Commission will launch an online survey in March directly addressed to farmers.
The targeted consultation will be used to identify farmers’ main sources of concern, and understand the sources of administrative burden stemming from CAP rules, as well as other EU rules.
The analysis from the survey will be published during autumn 2024.
The commission has also stated that it is working on actions to improve the position of farmers in the food chain and protect them against unfair trading practices, which will be presented shortly.
European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen said: “The Commission remains fully committed to delivering solutions to ease the pressure currently felt by our hard-working farming women and men.
“We are easing the administrative burden on our farmers to help them guarantee food security for European citizens.”