Brussels, 11/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - As previously announced, the Council, meeting in Brussels on Monday 11 May, adopted conclusions on the simplification of the common agricultural policy (CAP). The text may be short on ambition in places but, since it required unanimous agreement, it had to reconcile the countries' sometimes opposing interests, as had been demonstrated in the technical level negotiations (see EUROPE 11310).
The text recalls the commitments made by the Commission to review the provisions on greening after the first year of implementation and emphasises that, in implementing the CAP, greater account should be taken of the subsidiarity and proportionality principles (making EU legislation easier to understand and to implement on the ground, thereby increasing transparency and legal certainty, taking due account of specific national and regional situations, and reducing the administrative burden and associated costs.)
EU agriculture ministers stress that CAP simplification should respect the following principles: - preserving the policy objectives and the main elements of the reformed CAP, as well as ensuring legal stability for farmers, so that simplification will not lead to deregulation or restricted access to CAP support; - not jeopardising the sound financial management of EU funds; - focusing on areas where those implementing the CAP as well as its beneficiaries would benefit most in terms of reduced administrative burden, for example, with regard to information, control and reporting requirements; - improving the clarity of legislation and its consistency, particularly between the first and second pillars, where appropriate, as well as between basic acts, Commission acts and Commission guidelines.
The Council says it is aware that 2015, as the first year of full implementation of the CAP, will be difficult for farmers and national administrations, especially as regards putting into effect the new direct payment schemes and new rural development measures. “Therefore, flexibility should be applied, consistent with the legal framework, as regards the first year of CAP implementation”, the conclusions state.
The Council notes the following issues of a horizontal nature with a high simplification potential: 1) guidance issued by the European Commission and Commission acts should genuinely help with the implementation of the CAP legislation and should in no case go beyond the scope of the legal provisions agreed by the co-legislators by creating additional obligations; furthermore, greater transparency is needed as regards further interpretation of legal provisions provided by the Commission to member states, in particular in rural development policy; 2) the need to ensure the cost-effectiveness of reporting requirements, paying particular attention to “zero reporting”.
It highlights the following short- and medium- term priorities:
1) direct payments: the greening measures, particularly the application of the rules on permanent grassland, requirement for a period of crop diversification, definitions of the types of ecological focus areas (EFAs) and requirement for a potential EFA in the EFA layer, and the requirements for equivalent practices, where there is scope for simplification by giving more flexibility to member states regarding implementation taking better into account the natural conditions and allowing more targeted controls; active farmers as regards the practical application of the definition; assessing the modalities for implementing payment entitlements; young farmers as regards inter alia the need to give greater flexibility to member states concerning legal persons' eligibility for the scheme; the need for more flexibility within the small farmers scheme and for voluntary coupled support;
2) common market organisation: avoiding unnecessary reporting requirements; streamlining marketing standards in order to eliminate unnecessary burdens, acknowledging the significant simplification already carried out under the reform in the fruit and vegetable sector in 2008; streamlining the requirements for operational programmes and producer organisations in the fruit and vegetable sector to avoid undue burdens (revising provisions concerning environmental framework, simplification of annual reports, monitoring and evaluation of operational programmes, national strategies, etc.); providing greater flexibility for member states' implementation of and removing unnecessary rules and procedures on safety net measures, such as private storage and public intervention, as well as modernising the system of trade mechanisms; assessing the legal feasibility of making the application of crisis instruments optional for member states when only small volumes of products are involved;
3) rural development: the programming and approval of rural development programmes should be simplified, and monitoring and evaluation made less burdensome; no conditions should be added during the programme approval process which are not foreseen in the applicable legislation; as regards state aid, clearance should be given along with the approval of the programme to the extent possible, striving for a one-stop shop approach;
4) horizontal provisions: a “more proportional and risk-based” approach should apply to controls; avoidance of multiple controls of greening requirements as well as other support schemes and measures; proportional reductions and administrative penalties in cases of greening non-compliance, in particular regarding minor infringements; calculation of those penalties should be simplified; the control and penalty system for cross-compliance should also be revised in relation to proportionality; exploring the possibility of allowing payments, including advance payments, after the completion of administrative checks; the methodology for the calculation of error rates should be harmonised.
The Council recommends that the short-term focus be on steps that require the most urgent attention, such as revising delegated and implementing acts (and Commission acts adopted before the Lisbon Treaty came into force), improving guidance notes, provision of technical assistance and facilitating cooperation and exchange of good practices between administrations, while noting that, in the longer term, “based on the experience gained during the first years of full CAP implementation, simplification efforts should also be made as regards the basic acts”.
Lastly, ministers decided that there should be regular monitoring to ensure proper follow-up to the simplification process and, in particular: invite the Commission to present simplification initiatives in the autumn of 2015 taking into account the present Council conclusions and to consider further simplification initiatives in due course; and commit to assessing the progress made regarding CAP simplification in 2016, on the basis of Commission input. (Lionel Changeur)