On Monday 14 October, European agriculture ministers noted that they still had a lot of work to do before reaching agreement on the proposals for the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The ‘Agriculture’ Council of the EU has once again asked for visibility on the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021-2027 before deciding on the future CAP.
The Finnish Presidency of the EU Council intends to continue the technical discussion on some elements of the post-2020 CAP proposals and to use the next two sessions of the EU ‘Agriculture’ Council, in November and December, to discuss the CAP's highest level of environmental ambition and the new implementation model. In addition, the Presidency intends to present updated draft proposals for the three regulations by the beginning of December. The Finnish Presidency continues to hope to bring the EU Council to an agreement on the future CAP by the end of 2019. Commissioner Phil Hogan had also hoped that a quick agreement will be reached on this matter.
Twenty ministers are calling for the agricultural budget to be maintained. France presented to the EU Council the declaration of the agriculture ministers of 17 countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Spain) on the CAP budget. These countries are asking that the CAP budget for the next programming period (2021-2027) be maintained at the current level (in real terms) of the Twenty-Seven. Slovenia, Croatia and Belgium also supported this statement.
Everything remains to be done. "None of the three texts can be considered as stabilised", the French minister said. The three texts concern strategic plans, the common market organisation (CMO) and the horizontal regulation. The debate showed that the most complicated subjects to negotiate are the new CAP implementation model and green architecture. Belgium, the Netherlands and Slovakia considered that, contrary to what the Finnish Presidency claims, the text on the CMO has not been stabilised. Portugal welcomed the results on the CMO, in particular on wine.
In addition, several delegations (including Spain and Slovakia) asked the Commission to present rapidly a text on the transitional rules of the CAP for the year 2021, bearing in mind that the new CAP should enter into force early in 2022.
Coupled support. Several countries (Bulgaria, Belgium, Hungary) have asked for the continuation of coupled aid, while Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden have asked, on the contrary, to limit these aids that distort competition.
External convergence. Several countries (Italy, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium) are opposed to the Commission's proposal on external convergence. Latvia and Slovakia, on the other hand, have requested a more ambitious proposal in this area than the amount foreseen (77%).
Eco-schemes. Phil Hogan called on the EU Council not to "cut corners on the environmental ambitions of the new CAP". France, Germany, Spain and Portugal have requested that eco-schemes be mandatory for Member States. Italy is quite critical of this system, saying it fears duplication (first pillar eco-schemes and second pillar agri-environmental measures). Luxembourg has requested an optional eco-scheme.
Capping of aid. The countries that expressed their opinion on this part of the proposals (Denmark, the Czech Republic and Romania) requested an optional and non-binding scheme for capping aid to large companies. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)