The European Court of Auditors (ECA) set out a number of principles on Monday 19 March 2018 that it wants to see feature in the common agricultural policy (CAP) after 2020. European agriculture ministers were meeting on the same day to discuss the future of the CAP (see other article).
“We are not politicians, so don’t expect firm political proposals”, stated João Figueiredo, the ECA member responsible for the drafting the briefing paper. In terms of the discussions surrounding the post-2020 multiannual financial framework, the auditors repeated that their role was not to prescribe a new CAP but to consider significant, binding legal principles that should form part of the new CAP.
The auditors began by taking stock of the development of the CAP over the last ten years. They said that, while spending in this the oldest common policy has remained stable and has helped increase farmers’ incomes, there has not been enough progress on protecting the environment and, in general, the CAP is not sufficiently effective.
To overcome this lack of effectiveness, Figueiredo highlighted the need to identify needs on the basis of more solid evidence than at present. “More precise identification of needs will make formulation of more specific objectives possible”, said Michal Machowski.
The auditors repeated their call for clarification of the concept of “European value added”, often understood as additional results delivered by EU action. The concept is not, however, based on sufficiently clear and objective criteria in the auditors’ view.
In its communication of 29 November 2017, the European Commission proposed that the powers of the member states be strengthened in the choice of CAP resources and how these resources are allocated. The ECA supports this approach that emphasises the principle of subsidiarity but wants a corresponding increase in member states’ responsibility.
While the Commission made performance the only factor in this regard, the ECA wants to add compliance with member state commitments and agreements on environmental protection. Figueiredo stressed the need for consistency with commitments made under the 2015 Paris Agreement on tackling climate change.
On Thursday 15 March, the ECA delivered a report setting out the limited impact of the 2013 CAP reform in terms of simplifying the administrative burden (see EUROPE 11983). The auditors today indicated that strengthening the principle of subsidiarity could offer a solution on simplification. They cited the example of France, however, where increasing member state responsibility coincided, on the contrary, with increased administrative complication.
The auditors also called for increased monitoring and evaluation capabilities. (Original version in French by Mathieu Solal, intern)