Several delegations expressed reservations on Monday 27 May, at the meeting of the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA), on the compromise texts presented by the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council on the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (see EUROPE 12261/9). This subject will also be raised in the margins of the informal meeting of European Agriculture Ministers, from 2 to 4 June in Bucharest, in order to assess the possibility of obtaining a partial general approach on the future CAP at the EU Council meeting in Luxembourg on 17 and 18 June.
The Romanian Presidency of the EU Council presented on Monday, to the SCA delegations, compromise texts on the three proposals (strategic plans, common market organisation and horizontal regulation).
But 12 Member States, including France, Germany and Spain, were sceptical about the opportunity to reach a common position on the post-2020 CAP in June, while the future agricultural budget remains unknown, in the absence of agreement on the EU's multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2021-2027.
In addition, 16 delegations have reportedly expressed scrutiny reservations at this stage on the three texts presented by the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council. The European Commission considered that the presented amended texts reduced the initial ambition of the CAP's post-2020 'green architecture' elements.
An informal meeting of the SCA will take place on Monday 3 June in Bucharest to discuss the compromise texts on the post-2020 CAP. The European Ministers of Agriculture could also raise the subject in the margins of their informal meeting. The EU Council's informal working session, on Tuesday 4 June in Bucharest, will be devoted to the theme of the bio-economy and agricultural research. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)