Brussels, 17/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - In principle, the European Commission's proposal aimed at reducing direct payments for 2013 to avoid exceeding the budget for 2014 should be adopted by end June this year. EU member state experts remain, however, very divided over the matter, especially with regard to the modulation franchise.
According to the European Commission's proposal, the adjustment of direct payments for 2013 under budgetary discipline, i.e. a fall of 4.98% in direct farm aid, would only apply beyond €5,000 in aid received. The Irish Presidency of the EU Council has proposed a threshold of €2,000 on the basis of the Council guidelines on reform of common agricultural policy (CAP).
The Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) discussed the matter on 7 May. A number of member states (including Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) consider that no franchise should be foreseen. Other countries (Spain, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Greece and Hungary) are calling for a €5,000 threshold while still others, albeit somewhat opposed to the €5,000 franchise (the United Kingdom, France and Finland), state that it will be very important during talks with the European Parliament on CAP reform not to focus on a different threshold for 2013 and the following years (2014-2020) - otherwise, the system will be too complex.
The Commission for its part has said that the limit of €2,000 would be very difficult to implement (lack of information on beneficiaries between €2,000 and €5,000, ill-adapted information systems, risk of error, etc.). At this stage, the Irish Presidency of the EU Council is sticking to its proposal which is modelled on that of the Commission but with a cap of €2,000 rather than €5,000. (LC/transl.jl)