The Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU presented compromise ideas to EU delegations on Monday 19 April on important elements of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) related to green architecture (eco-regimes, Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition or GAEC).
These delicate issues, as well as those concerning the targeting of aid (capping, degressivity and redistributive payments), will be dealt with at a key trilogue on 30 April, in which the Portuguese Minister for Agriculture, Maria do Céu Antunes, will participate. The 22 April trilogue was cancelled at the request of the EU Council because the European Parliament was not in a position to make concessions, according to a diplomatic source (see EUROPE 12701/17).
On Monday, at the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA), the Portuguese Presidency submitted suggestions on the percentage of direct aid to be spent on eco-regimes and on some outstanding issues regarding GAEC. “The only purpose of these proposals is to try to bring the positions of Parliament and the EU Council closer together in order to reach an agreement”, asserted an EU diplomat. A compromise between the EU institutions on these issues should be reached by 30 April, “otherwise the objective of concluding the negotiations by May would be compromised”, the source said.
Up to 25% for eco-regimes. The Portuguese Presidency proposed that Member States accept a compromise on eco-regimes, providing for a gradual approach, starting with 22% and reaching 25% by 2025. Parliament has set a target of 30% of aid to be spent on eco-regimes, while the EU Council’s position is 20%.
The Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council hopes that the EU Agriculture Ministers, who meet on Monday 26 April (by video conference), will give it a similar mandate to negotiate with Parliament on eco-regimes.
The agenda for the 30 April trilogue will be “very full, as it will have to integrate the agenda of the 16 April trilogue, which ended in a total absence of results, given Parliament’s inability to move on capping, degressivity and the redistributive payment”, explains a diplomatic source. It will also be necessary to find common ground on the mandatory definition of ‘active farmer’.
The Portuguese Presidency made suggestions on GAEC numbers four (good agri-environmental condition), eight (crop rotation) and nine (minimum share of non-productive areas) during the SCA.
The Council of the EU would also expect proposals from Parliament on the social dimension of the CAP. Barring any surprises, this issue should be settled at the very end of the negotiations in May. The objective remains for the EU institutions to reach a compromise on CAP reform by the end of May. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)