Brussels, 11/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 11 May, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Phil Hogan, presented the Agriculture Council with a first raft of measures to simplify rules for the greening of direct aid in the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
These measures will be presented during the management committee on 20 May and will be applicable to direct aid in 2015.
With regard to the layer (total surface area) of the Ecological Focus Area (EFA) and more particularly the current recommendation to map as many EFAs as possible, Hogan agrees that those member states that wish to do so, map declared EFAs only. Hogan is also prepared to allow a certain flexibility with regard to the identification of EFAs in their EFA area.
Hogan will also allow further flexibility and allow hedges or wooded strips with gaps up to 4 metres. “This will make life easier for farmers”, explained Hogan. With regard to adjacent EFAs he will therefore, in duly justified cases, accept flexibility as regards the requirement that the EFA must be adjacent to the parcel boundary, by recognising a limited buffer area between the boundary and the EFA. He listened to the calls to decrease the burden for administrations, and said that he was ready to accept a simplified approach as regards the identification of some specific types of permanent grassland. Finally, in case of wrong declarations, he will also allow that a missing EFA may be compensated by another EFA found in the same parcel, even if the latter has not been declared. (Lionel Changeur)