On Thursday, 19 December the ministers of agriculture from Germany, France and Spain issued a joint declaration in which they advocate a post-2020 common agricultural policy (CAP) that is “simpler and greener, and which supports the economic viability of farms and rural areas”.
While the negotiations on the post-2020 CAP have stalled because of a lack of transparency regarding budgetary appropriations for the period 2021-2027, the ministers from Germany (Julia Klöckner), Spain (Luis Planas) and France (Didier Guillaume) have agreed on the policy’s objectives and ambitions.
In their declaration, they signal their desire to create an ambitious CAP that will guarantee the economic viability of farms and rural areas, while meeting the expectations of European society, particularly with regard to environmental issues.
The three countries support the Commission's proposal on ‘green architecture’, which will provide adequate support to farmers to implement the transition to more sustainable production systems, in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
They are in favour of enhanced conditionality and mandatory eco-schemes (environmental programmes) and emphasise that environmental transition must take place within a European framework based on a common set of rules, avoiding distortion of competitiveness. The three countries believe that the Finnish Presidency’s idea of having a minimum part of the overall budget on the first and second pillar dedicated to environmental and climate expenditure is “a step in the right direction”.
They agree that the new CAP should be “appropriately funded” to help farmers meet the challenges they will face.
They also advocate a new simplified ‘performance framework’ to ensure effective implementation for beneficiaries, Member States, Länder, Autonomous Communities and Regions. The Ministers invite all other ministers of agriculture who wish to do so to support this declaration, which can be downloaded from: http://bit.ly/36MdshC (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)