Experts from EU countries made little progress on Monday 4 March in the negotiations on strategic plans for the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (see EUROPE 12203).
In order to prepare for the discussions of the Agriculture Council on 18 March, delegations in the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) examined a compromise text from the Romanian Presidency of the Council on future strategic plans, but leaving aside, at this stage, the sensitive issue of reducing direct payments.
The discussions focused on the following themes: - definition of permanent grasslands: several delegations supported the integration of the provisions contained in the omnibus Regulation, while others preferred the Commission's proposal; - definition of young farmers: the Council Presidency's proposal to make skills and training requirements voluntary was supported by many delegations (but not by the Commission); - definition of the genuine farmer: voluntary application was requested by many delegations (the Commission reiterated its opposition to any optional definition); - farm advisory services: delegations were divided on excluding the 'FaST' tool (Farm Sustainability Tool for Nutrients) from the cross-compliance rules; - redistributive payments (increase for the first hectares of each farm): the proposal to make the implementation of these premiums for the first hectares voluntary was supported by many delegations (but the Commission wants a mandatory system); - areas subject to natural constraints: - several delegations supported the Romanian Presidency's suggestions to allow the re-designation of areas subject to natural or other specific constraints; - investments: many delegations supported the Commission's proposal (75% support rate for all investments) with a possible increase to 100% depending on the type of investment (mainly non-productive investments) while some countries considered the 75% rate too high (they prefer a 40% rate mentioned in the previous Austrian Presidency compromise).
The compromise text on strategic plans is available at: https://bit.ly/2Vx6uaS.
Horizontal regulation. The Romanian Presidency presented revised texts on Article 15 (financial discipline) and Article 42 (payments to beneficiaries) of the horizontal regulation on the future CAP. Delegations were still divided on the Commission's proposal to remove the € 2,000 threshold (exemption) for financial discipline (see EUROPE 12194). The Presidency's suggestions on Article 42 were widely supported at the SCA. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)