Negotiations between the Council of the EU, the European Parliament and the European Commission on Friday 26 March achieved progress on some elements of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). But there is still a lot of work to be done, acknowledged EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski (https://bit.ly/3w9ibYo ), who welcomed the agreement on the new delivery model (see EUROPE 12687/2).
Compromises will still have to be found on the percentage to be devoted to eco-regimes, the ‘social conditionality’ of the CAP, the crisis reserve, the internal convergence of aids, capping and degressivity (and the redistributive payment).
This leaves more than 50% of the package to be completed.
On Monday 29 March, the Council Working Group of Agricultural Advisers/Attachés was briefed on the results of Friday’s ‘super trilogue’.
On 12 April, the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) will vote on the compromise elements found on the CAP.
The Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council will inform the Ministers of Agriculture on 26 April on the state of negotiations on the future CAP. The aim is to reach a final agreement between the European Parliament and EU Council by the end of May.
The next trilogues are scheduled for 16 and 30 April on the strategic plans, 23 April on the horizontal regulation and 21 and 29 April on the common market organisation regulation.
“The result achieved was necessary to have a chance of reaching an agreement under the Portuguese Presidency of the Council”, said an EU source.
New delivery model. Agreement in principle was reached on one of the most difficult issues of the reform, the new delivery model.
Portuguese Agriculture Minister Maria do Céu Antunes said compromises had been reached on a two-yearly performance review, accepted tolerance levels and indicators (22 indicators, according to an EU source). These three topics are covered by the future regulation on strategic plans.
On those aspects of the new delivery model that fall under the horizontal regulation, Parliament has reportedly agreed to drop its amendments on the eligibility of expenditure and on the compliance procedure. In return, it has obtained the inclusion, in the general principles of the CAP, of the respect of strategic plans, with the possibility of controls and sanctions.
These provisions allow certain compliance procedures to be maintained. Parliament has shown flexibility on the performance model, welcomed rapporteur Ulrike Müller (Renew Europe, Germany).
The agreement on the new delivery model “reflects an agreement among several political groups in Parliament”, noted an EU source.
Horizontal regulation. Parliament agreed to review its position on the sample of beneficiaries monitored. After defending 5%, then 2.5%, it finally accepted the EU Council’s position of 1%. In exchange, the Council of the EU agreed to keep the ‘de minimis threshold’ for sanctions at €100, whereas it had wanted €250. The co-legislators reached a compromise on the penalty rates for non-compliance with cross-compliance: 3% for negligence, 10% for repeated irregularities and a minimum of 15% for ‘intentional’ non-compliance.
On transparency, the EU Council accepted Parliament’s position on additional information on beneficiaries: beneficiaries will have to communicate to the States whether they belong to a company. MEPs agree that the use of the Arachne data mining tool should remain optional, with a transition period.
Market measures. On the text of the Common Market Organisation (CMO), Parliament and the EU Council confirmed the agreement in principle on the extension of the vineyard authorisation scheme until 2045 (see other news).
The other results are as follows: – possibility of total or partial ‘dealcoholisation’ for wines without geographical indication, only partial for wines under PDO and PGI; – recognition of prohibited varieties (of wine) at the discretion of the Member States, but maintenance of the areas as they are; – for wines, labelling of energy content, list of ingredients and nutrition information.
Finally, the Council of the EU has reportedly accepted Parliament’s proposal to extend the possibility of regulating supply (which exists for wine, cheese and ham) to all products with a PGI or PDO. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)