Brussels, 23/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - At the last meeting of the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) on Monday 21 May, the Danish Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers put forward some amendments to the Commission proposal on less-favoured areas in the regulation on rural development (see also EUROPE 10610 for CSA discussions): - using an alternative local administrative unit (LAU) to determine less-favoured areas; - lowering the minimum eligibility threshold for less-favoured areas per administrative unit from 66% to 60% of the usable agricultural area, and allowing greater flexibility at national level in fine tuning; - extending the transition period for the phasing out of the current system to 2019, rather than 2017.
Most delegations backed the eight “biophysical” criteria for defining less-favoured areas (in the Commission proposal). Several, however, such as Germany, France, Spain and Poland, continue to view, though with different degrees of enthusiasm, the status quo as a possible solution. Some, such as France and Austria, believe that the issue of multiple handicap has not been taken into account.
The use of a unit other than the LAU 2 to determine less-favoured areas was supported by most countries. Some, for example Spain and Belgium, are fearful, however, lest this affect the uniformity of less-favoured areas.
Reducing the eligibility threshold to 60% was generally well received, except by a few countries, like Spain and Slovenia, which estimated that, for them, this change would mean a very significant increase in the number of less-favoured areas.
Others (Ireland, Belgium, Slovakia and the Netherlands) wondered whether the threshold should not, in fact, be reduced to 50%. Some countries (Italy and the United Kingdom) would like a precise calculation of the amount of land defined as less-favoured areas under the various suggested thresholds.
The Danish Presidency proposed bringing more flexibility to fine tuning. Some delegations (including Poland, Finland and Luxembourg) would rather this flexibility was on a voluntary basis. Certain countries, like Italy, pointed out that the Commission is due to publish guidelines on fine tuning criteria in the next few weeks.
The large majority of countries (exceptions included the Czech Republic and Estonia) came out in favour of extending the transition period for phasing out the current system, as proposed by the Presidency. A few countries, such as the United Kingdom and Belgium, called for the system to be implemented at regional level. (LC/transl.rt)