Experts from the EU countries, meeting on Monday 7 September in the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA), welcomed some of the German Council Presidency's suggestions on the green architecture of the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (see EUROPE 12532/3).
The German Council Presidency “considers strong eco-schemes to be a key instrument for increasing the environmental and climate ambition of the CAP”, the note states.
EU countries are divided over the compulsory nature of the eco-schemes and the minimum budget to be devoted to them. Member States are also concerned that unspent amounts could be lost, if the expenditure made did not correspond to the minimum budget.
The German Presidency made suggestions at the SCA meeting for mandatory eco-schemes (with a minimum budget and more flexibility via a two-year pilot phase).
Some delegations (France, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain...) supported the compulsory nature of the eco-schemes.
Others (the Netherlands, Lithuania, Finland, Austria...) requested that on the contrary they be optional. Many delegations welcomed the “interesting” proposal on the two-year pilot phase.
Conditionality. With regard to ‘Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions’ (GAEC No. 9) the German Presidency proposed the introduction of an EU-wide uniform minimum share of non-productive areas of more than the current 5% and reduction to 3% of arable land for Member States wishing to take into account pure non-productive areas Several Member States expressed their preference for maintaining the 5% threshold for non-productive areas.
The next SCA will take place on 14 September and will focus in particular on the CAP (capping, new implementation model). The next Agriculture Council will take place on 21 September. The aim is to bring the Council to a common position in October on the future CAP.
Link to the German Presidency document: https://bit.ly/3lZj7JR (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)