On Monday 15 July in Brussels, the European Union's Agriculture Ministers expressed divergent positions on the modalities of the post-2020 ‘green architecture’ of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Debates on the post-2020 CAP have been going round in circles since Agriculture Ministers waited to find out how much money the 2021-2027 EU budget would provide before taking a stand on the proposals for the future CAP.
In general, Ministers agree to increase the environmental and climate goals of the CAP, provided that the CAP benefits from the corresponding budget and that Member States have sufficient flexibility to adapt the rules to their specific situation (see EUROPE 12291/13).
Maintaining the CAP budget. The Agriculture Ministers of Spain, France, Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, Luxembourg, Lithuania and Bulgaria considered that the CAP budget for the period 2021-2027 should not be reduced, while the Commission is proposing a 5% cut in these funds.
Enhanced conditionality. In particular, the Commission proposes strengthening the conditionality of aid. Several ministers considered that these rules should be made simpler. Several countries, such as Italy, have asked to exclude small farmers from the rules on aid conditionality. The Commission's proposals on cross compliance are not consistent, the Italian minister criticised. We must not complicate things, warned the Polish minister.
Germany considered that, in general, the Commission's proposal on green architecture constituted real progress. On crop rotation and peatland protection, Germany believes that there should not bee too much deviation far from the Commission's proposals.
Environmental programmes. France, Germany and Spain, in particular, have requested, as proposed by the Commission, to make ecological programmes (eco-regimes) mandatory for Member States. The Czech Republic requested a flexible approach for these eco-regimes. Italy does not welcome the fact that these eco-regimes are mandatory.
The European Commissioner for Agriculture, Phil Hogan, hoped that the Agriculture Ministers would be ambitious on environmental protection, as this would be a way to justify the request for an ambitious budget for the CAP.
Mercosur. Poland referred to the trade negotiations concluded between the EU and Mercosur (see other news). The EU-Mercosur agreement will increase pressure on agriculture and relocate production to other regions, the Polish minister said. France said that “we should not import agriculture we do not want into the EU”, with reference to the different standards that exist in the Mercosur countries. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)