EU member states have been urged to begin applying simplified rules under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) before the year is out.
This week, the European Parliament adopted a raft of measures to simplify the CAP in two different votes, in response to a series of farmer protests earlier this year.
These revisions to the CAP, if implemented, would see farms under 10ha in size being exempt from controls and non-compliance under some CAP rules.
The revisions will also see changes to some of the Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAECs).
Responding to the votes, Copa Cogeca, the group representing EU farm organisations and agricultural co-operatives, said: “The European Parliament adopted two commission proposals regarding the CAP simplification package for the short, medium and long-term.
“The first one…focused on the modifications to GAEC 1, gives member states necessary flexibility to consider exceptional structural changes in the conversion of permanent grassland areas,” a Copa statement noted.
“The second [vote]…deals in particular with GAECs 6, 7, and 8, providing more leeway in implementing the CAP, considering climatic, geo-political, and local conditions while safeguarding the transition towards more sustainable agriculture,” the farmer group added.
“The challenging implementation of the new, highly complex CAP in January 2023 compounded by the extreme weather events, and geo-political and economic context, made it difficult, if not impossible, to meet certain technical or timely requirements.”
“In this context, the fast adoption by MEPs of the proposals made by the European Commission is seen as a positive signal to the urgency of addressing the concerns that farmers have expressed during the past few months when it comes to the administrative burden associated with the implementation of the CAP,” Copa added.
The group is urging member states to apply the revised ules and to come up with the implementing legislation “as soon as possible” so that these changes can be applied at farm level this year.
Copa also called on the European Commission to continue “this simplification exercise” by following up with additional proposals.
“We also call on member states to use all existing possibilities to simplify the existing national implementing rules to minimise and ease the administrative burden on farmers,” the farm organisation said.