The three EU institutions made timid progress on Wednesday 10 February in their negotiations on the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (see EUROPE 12652/8).
During the trilogue on ‘strategic plans’ on 10 February, the European Parliament and the EU Council reportedly reached compromises on some elements of the CAP’s ‘new implementation model’. The principle of a performance review (report to be sent by EU countries) every 2 years would be subject to a consensus between MEPs and the EU Council. The European Commission proposed a review every year.
On the permissible gap between ‘target values’ and results, the positions of the three EU institutions remain divergent.
Active farmer. The co-legislators could not agree on the definition of ‘active farmer’. The EU Council continues to defend the optional nature of this definition. The EU institutions have also failed to reach agreement on the definition of ‘permanent grassland’.
The positions of the EU Council and Parliament also remain very different on the question of capping (optional, according to the conclusions of the European Council) and the degressivity of direct aid. Parliament insists on the compulsory capping of aid.
The next trilogue on strategic plans will take place on 23 February.
The next trilogue on the Common Market Organisation (CMO) Regulation will take place on 3 March.
Wine. In addition, the EU Council and Parliament approved, on 8 and 9 February respectively, the delegated act allowing the continuation in 2021 of the exceptional market measures of 2020 for the benefit of the wine sector (see EUROPE 12646/3). These measures will continue to make the national wine support programmes co-financed by the EU more flexible. The delegated act may enter into force on the day after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU and will apply retroactively from 16 October 2020. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)