On Monday 10 February, several experts from EU Member States advocated for setting a minimum share of agricultural area, fixed at EU level, to be devoted to non-productive features.
The Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) discussed elements of the proposals on the future strategic plans for the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), including Annex 3 on cross-compliance rules related to the standards for 'Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions' (GAEC).
A paper by the Croatian EU Council Presidency (http://bit.ly/39nnwiy ) on these aspects helped to structure the discussions in the SCA, which showed that : - the majority of delegations (France, Romania, Hungary, Spain, Italy, Poland, etc.) prefer that GAEC No 9 (minimum share of agricultural area devoted to non-productive features) should cover only arable land: - some countries (Germany, Denmark, Belgium, etc.) are in favour of covering all agricultural areas, as in the Commission's proposal: - countries support the setting of a minimum share of land to be dedicated to areas favourable to biodiversity, but opinions differ on whether this minimum share should be set at EU level (France, Belgium, Romania, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Austria...) or at Member State level (Spain Greece, Hungary, Finland...) The main objective of GAEC 9 is to improve biodiversity on the farm.
In addition, the SCA discussed Article 60 of the CAP Strategic Plans Regulation (types of intervention).
The Commission has proposed that only recognised Producer Organisations (POs) should be eligible for aid under 'other sectors'. Many Member States with no or only a small number of POs have requested the extension of the scope of eligible forms of cooperation to also include cooperatives, producer groups and similar forms which have not yet been recognised as POs.
The Croatian Presidency of the EU Council asked delegations, in a working document, to share their views on the following issues: - would you be in favour of a 'recognition plan' being requested as a mandatory document from cooperatives and other forms of cooperation which are not recognised as POs, as an instrument to help ensure that at the end of the transitional period full recognition is achieved? In the CSA, the suggested 'recognition plan' was supported by several delegations (Ireland, Bulgaria, Hungary, France, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain). However, a number of delegations (Sweden, Netherlands, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland) did not support the suggestion.
A majority of countries supported providing for compulsory recovery of funds in the event that the producer group does not obtain recognition after the end of the transitional period.
Finally, delegations were divided on whether interbranch organisations should be eligible for funding under Article 60.
The ‘Agriculture’ Council of the EU will again discuss the post-2020 CAP (see EUROPE 12412/2) in March. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)