EU member state agriculture ministers are to meet in Luxembourg on Monday 18 June to debate legislative proposals on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) beyond 2020. This will be the last Agriculture Council under Bulgarian presidency. It will also cover the issue of American anti-dumping duties affecting Spanish olives, pig meat and the disposal of skimmed milk powder stocks.
Agriculture ministers may be somewhat critical about the proposals to be officially presented for the first time by Commissioner Phil Hogan (see EUROPE 12039). Criticism is expected to be on the budgetary aspect (a 5% drop in spending from 2021 to 2027), as well as on the new subsidiarity structure or the projected aid capping at €100,000.
The Bulgarian presidency of the Council of the EU has decided not to impose a questionnaire but to let everyone tackle the points that they consider to be the most appropriate at this stage.
The budgetary question will no doubt be at the heart of member states’ preoccupations. France will present a joint statement with Spain, Ireland, Portugal and Greece, calling for the farm budget to be kept at its current level. During the last Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA), France and Italy reiterated their protest against the drop in farm spending for 2021-2027.
Several countries such as Portugal, Finland and Slovenia, also voiced concern about the fall in funding for the second pillar and regarding changes in the rates of co-funding applied to rural development programmes.
Some aspects of the proposals are expected to come under fire: the complexity of the provision, the insufficient level of subsidiarity in some specific areas, the definition of active farmer, aid capping, the vague demarcation line between eco-provisions of the first pillar and agri-environmental measures under the second. Also, the last point that raises considerable concern, is the risk of delay in application of the new CAP. On 15 June, the Council’s working group began technical examination of the proposal on the strategic plans and horizontal regulation. Another working group will be meeting on 20 June. The file will then be forwarded to the Austrian presidency that will take over the discussions as of 1 July.
Markets and other issues. Agriculture ministers will hold a discussion on the market situation with an inventory set out by the European Commission, thus providing France with an opportunity to present its proposal for facilitating disposal of powdered milk stocks intended for animal feed (see EUROPE 12037).
Under “miscellaneous”, Poland will again sound the alarm on the difficulties of its pig meat sector and call for activation of private storage in that sector.
Spain hopes to raise the matter of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties imposed on its exports of table olives on the American market (see EUROPE 12041).
Cyprus will inform its partners of the “gravity of the situation” in its agricultural sector due to the decreasing availability of water for agriculture on the island.
Slovenia, backed by Luxembourg and Poland, will underline the need to “step up EU efforts to reduce the endangerment of bees and other pollinators”, while Hungary is to present a joint stamen from the Visegrad Group plus Croatia, Romania, Slovenia and the Baltic States on bio-economy research in Central and Eastern Europe. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)