The EU Court of Auditors announced on Tuesday 27 August that it is currently carrying out an audit to assess the EU's use of new imaging technologies for monitoring the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
In particular, the auditors will examine the support provided by the European Commission, as well as the practices in the Member States. They will also assess the challenges hindering more rapid and extensive deployment of these new technologies.
Member States carry out some 900 000 on-the-spot checks each year to ensure that CAP aid is properly paid. “These, however, cover only about 5% of the aid applicants”, notes the Court of Auditors. New imaging technologies can be useful in obtaining reliable information on farmers’ “actual agricultural activities and their compliance” with the rules on the conditions for granting direct payments. “The use of new technologies for monitoring should also increase the effectiveness of future CAP environmental and climate measures”, says the Court of Auditors.
For around two years, the EU’s Copernicus Sentinelle satellite programme has been providing freely available high-resolution images. The data thus obtained can facilitate checks on, for example, agricultural activity on parcels, crop classification or certain ecological focus areas. Other projects, such as geo-tagged photography, drones and land monitoring solutions, are also supported by the Commission and the Member States. They all offer opportunities to ensure a more efficient and cost-effective monitoring of the CAP, concludes the EU Court of Auditors. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)