On Thursday 4 February, MEPs protested against the Council of the EU’s method of negotiating the market aspects of the overhaul of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The rapporteur on the common market organisation (CMO) regulation, Eric Andrieu (S&D, France), criticised the Council of the EU’s decision to exclude certain topics on market management from the talks. In a document (https://bit.ly/3pTeS3R ), the Council lists the European Parliament’s admissible and inadmissible amendments (see EUROPE 12649/6).
“I can’t accept a unilateral decision by the Council of the EU to leave important political points out of the debate”, said Eric Andrieu. He asked the Council to consider the European Parliament as a true co-legislator. “All the items on the table need to be discussed”, argued Anne Sander (EPP, France), who criticised the Council for making “its deal” on the issues.
Jérémy Decerle (Renew Europe, France) noted the “special atmosphere” in the trilogue due to the Council’s attitude.
Benoît Biteau (Greens/EFA, France) considered it “unacceptable” that the Portuguese Presidency of the Council “sweeps aside” the European Parliament's views.
At the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) on Monday 8 February, the Portuguese Presidency will put forward some of the European Parliament’s ideas on the CMO, including the compromise on the extension of vine planting authorisations until 2045.
Horizontal regulation. The rapporteur, Ulrike Müller (Renew Europe, Germany), reported on the trilogue of 29 January (the next one will take place on 25 February). She welcomed the discussions on simplified cross-compliance for small farmers.
Regarding the monitoring of cross-compliance, Ms Müller points out the differences between the European Parliament and the Council of the EU on the sample of farms monitored (the Council calls for 1% and the European Parliament 5%).
The new implementation model continues to be a problem.
For Anne Sander, the Council is “stuck on its demands for flexibility” and makes the link with the CAP strategic plans. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)