Subsidiarity is the key word in the communication on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2020 adopted by the European Commission on Wednesday 29 November which proposes to delegate implementation of the policy to the member states (see EUROPE 11913). A number of stakeholders fear repatriation of the CAP.
The Commission proposes a “new delivery mechanism”, meaning that “the member states will be responsible for the results they achieve”, said European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen. Greening arrangements introduced in the 2013 reform, which impose three uniform measures – with a number of flexibilities – on farmers, will be completely removed and replaced with the new system. The objectives set at European level will remain common but implementation will be left to the member states or, indeed, the regions. “There will no longer be the spectre of Brussels coming to measure how wide a hedge is or impose the number of trees to be planted”, said Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan. Each member state will submit a strategic plan which will have to be approved by the European Commission. Indicators (on soil, air, water, biodiversity, etc. quality) will be used to measure the effectiveness of the measures implemented at national or regional level. “The ‘one size fits all’ approach doesn’t work”, Hogan stated. “This arrangement will be much simpler, getting rid of all the requirements that were much too complicated to apply”, Katainen added. “The pressure will be put on a member states to achieve the goals.”
Innovation, young farmers and risk management. The other priorities highlighted by this communication are research and innovation and attracting young people into farming. Here again, the Commission says that it is the member states that are best placed to make it easier for new entrants to set up in the sector, by, for example, affording them access to land.
For the rest, as the Commission has been saying for months, it will be evolution, not revolution. Overall agricultural and risk management arrangements will not, then, be redesigned. But the Commission proposes to put in place a European platform which will bring together all the players involved (farmers, research institutes, insurance, etc.) to lift the impediments which have prevented the adoption of these measures over the last few years.
Lastly, budget-related issues, such as the capping or degressivity of aid beyond a certain threshold, co-financing of direct aid and convergence of the level of aid among member states, are not raised. It will be included in the legislative proposals expected before summer, once the proposal on the next EU multiannual financial framework published.
Little enthusiasm. Environmental NGOs say that they are generally disappointed. WWF, BirdLife and the European Environmental Bureau all regret that direct payments are to be maintained. These, they say, are the main cause of deterioration of the environment caused by the agricultural sector.
The main European agricultural sector organisation, Copa-Cogeca, fears that the new results-based model will make the CAP even more complicated and, above all, lead to further repatriation.
Green MEP José Bové says that the proposal “is anti-European because it encourages competition between member states by allowing countries to adjust support to the more competitive than their neighbours”.
Even the EPP (the party of European Commissioner Phil Hogan) has expressed some doubts. “We hope that the new delivery model will achieve this simplification and better address the local needs while guaranteeing the common nature of agricultural policy and a level playing field in the EU single market” said group leader Joseph Daul.
Commissioner Hogan is due to present the proposal to the MEPs on the agriculture committee on the evening of 29 November. He will then do likewise with farming and cooperative organisations Copa-Cogeca on 30.
The communication can be viewed at: http://bit.ly/2j2n9lF (Original version in French)