EU Agriculture Ministers are expected to be divided on Monday 15 April in Luxembourg on the contours of the post-2020 'green' architecture of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (see EUROPE 12227/2).
Member States' experts in the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) prepared, on Monday 8 April, the Romanian EU Council Presidency's questionnaire on this important dossier of proposals on the future CAP, which will be discussed at the next Agriculture Council on Monday.
At the technical meetings, several Member States, including France, Germany and Sweden, welcomed the strengthening of the environmental ambitions of the future CAP (see EUROPE 12222/22). But many delegations (including Poland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Croatia and Malta) insisted on the need to have an agricultural budget commensurate with the stated ambitions, while the Commission is proposing a 5% cut in agricultural appropriations over the 2021-2027 period in the EU's next multiannual financial framework (MFF).
Several delegations (such as Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland) requested a less demanding baseline for aid conditionality, and others (such as Italy, Poland, Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria) considered that these rules should not apply to small farmers.
As regards the first-pillar eco-regimes (direct aids and market expenditure), Member States are divided on whether this scheme is voluntary or mandatory (for Member States).
In its document explaining the questionnaire to be submitted to the EU Council, the Romanian Presidency of the Council asks whether cross compliance should apply to all beneficiaries of aid, or whether “small farmers should be exempt from controls and sanctions”. On eco-regimes, ministers are asked whether they support the Commission's proposal (mandatory programmes for Member States but voluntary for farmers) or whether they would like “additional flexibility to make these schemes voluntary for Member States”.
The last question put to the Agriculture Council is as follows: Do you agree with the proposal to allocate at least 30% of rural development funds (second pillar of the CAP) for climate and environmental measures? The EU countries are rather in agreement on this proposal. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)