Brussels, 24/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - The experts of the countries of the EU, meeting for the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) on Monday 23 April, continued their debates on the proposed reform of the CAP (common agricultural policy) by tackling certain issues related to the greening of certain direct aid.
As regards the obligatory components of greening, the discussions first of all focused on the diversification of crops. The vast majority of delegations said that the minimum surface area (for arable land) of the farms concerned by the ecological measures should be considerably above the three hectares proposed by the Commission. Most countries argued for the same limit for all, of at least 10 ha (Spain, Portugal and Italy), or 15 ha (Poland, Romania, Germany and the Netherlands), or 20 ha (United Kingdom and Sweden). Three arable crops are earmarked for diversification. On permanent grassland, the vast majority of countries are concerned by the administrative burden brought in by grassland management by parcels of land or by holding, as proposed by the Commission. They defended the status quo with national or regional management of permanent grassland. As regards ecologically significant areas (ESA), the percentage of 7% of surface area eligible to become an ESA under the proposal was felt by the majority of delegations to be too high. (LC/transl.fl)