On Tuesday 25 September, the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU promised to work very hard to bring the Council to a general direction by the end of December on the proposals on the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), but admitted that it would be a tough task (see EUROPE 12101).
The EU's agriculture ministers met at Hof Castle in Austria, about forty miles east of Vienna, from 23 to 25 September for an informal meeting on the post-2020 CAP.
At a conference on Tuesday 25 September, the Austrian minister, Elisabeth Köstinger, explained that the presidency was trying to make progress one step at a time, but did not know whether they would manage to reach a general approach at the Council over the next few months, although they would do their best.
Legal uncertainties. Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan said the aim was to conclude the reform before the European Parliament elections in May. He said the Parliament’s agriculture committee had asked the Parliament’s legal service to analyse the Commission’s proposals on the future CAP to see whether they complied with the treaty. He hoped the proposals were worthwhile from this point of view.
In a letter to the European Parliament’s legal service on 4 September, the chair of the Parliament’s agriculture committee, Czesław Adam Siekierski, said the prepossess mechanically implied a reduction in the role of the Parliament in defining the CAP and cast doubt on the future utility and even the relevance of an agriculture committee at the European Parliament. He therefore asked for an inventory of the main policy decisions that would escape the control of the Parliament.
Budget. The Austrian minister noted ‘progress’ in the negotiations over the EU’s multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2021-2027, and defended the idea of a sufficient budget allocation for the CAP, while the Commission has proposed a 5% cut in this spending from 2021 to 2027. During a round the table discussion at the Council, several ministers protested against the reduction in credits for the CAP.
Strategic plans. In preparation for the Agriculture Council of 15 October on the post-2020 CAP proposals, the Special Agriculture Committee (CSA) examined in Austria on Monday 24 September a second report from the Austrian Presidency of the Council summarising the discussions at the working group on the strategy plans for the post-2020 CAP.
The delegations then answered two questions – the first on the connection between the two pillar in the proposal on strategic plans (notably on the measures on the environment/climate and support for young farmers).
The experts from EU countries broadly welcomed the aims of the proposal but expressed doubt about some elements.
Many delegations supported the need for flexibility for the member states and called for voluntary rather than compulsory measures. A fair number of delegations argued that the proposals on conditionality should provide better targeted incentives for environmentally-friendly farm methods, taking account of national circumstances.
Many delegations said there were too many overlaps between the two pillars’ environmental measures and the ecological programmes (compulsory in the proposal), (some delegations called for the ecological programmes to be compulsory for all member states).
The Commission stressed the need for a common baseline for support in all member states, with flexibility for additional measures, and considered that there was sufficient flexibility to enable the member states to avoid overlapping and double-funding.
The second question was on intervention for other sectors (producer organisations, associations, etc). Many member states said it would be good for interventions for other sectors to cover not only produce organisations, but also cooperatives and other farmer organisations (few countries backed the idea of limiting intervention to producer organisations). The Commission was relatively open to extending the list of sectors concerned.
Attending the informal meeting, EJA (European Council of Young Farmers) said "EJA believes that it is necessary to ring-fence more than 2% of the funds in Pillar I for young farmers. A strong definition for active farmer will also allow for a better redistribution of direct payments to those who truly need it."
Coordination européenne Via Campesina and its Austrian member, OBV (Österreichische Berg- und Kleinbäuer_innen Vereinigung), held a rally outside the building the ministers were meeting in to call for urgent changes in the EU’s Common Agriculture Policy (see EUROPE 12090).
African swine fever. The question of African swine fever was also discussed by the minister in Austria and the European Commission backed the measures to slaughter 4,000 pigs in Belgium to prevent the disease from spreading (see EUROPE 12102). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)