The European Parliament is to send a working document to the EU Council next week setting out the MEPs’ position on the social dimension of the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
This issue will be discussed by EU agriculture ministers on Monday 26 April (see other news).
Negotiators from the main political groups (EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, etc.) are working on a ‘working document’ explaining Parliament’s position on the social dimension of the CAP.
EUROPE was able to obtain a ‘short note’ on the basic concepts to be included in the working document.
Parliament thus proposes the imposition of an “administrative sanction” on beneficiaries of CAP funds “who do not comply with the applicable working and employment conditions resulting from collective agreement, national law and Union law, relating to different aspects of working conditions” (health, safety at work, equal treatment, etc.), the note reads.
The legislation to comply with will be listed in an Annex and should include a range of existing EU legal acts (common standards that establish a level playing field across the EU in terms of workers’ rights), which would also benefit employers, the note says.
“Currently, farmers complying with the applicable labour standards are disadvantaged compared to those breaking the law and this unfair competition must be stopped”, the note says.
Member States would be required to ensure compliance with the rules on social conditionality through existing control systems.
CAP beneficiaries guilty of violating social standards would be sanctioned so that EU funds do not support illegal practices.
Controls would be carried out by the competent authorities responsible for enforcing working and employment conditions, “without the need to create any new structures at European and national level”, the note explains. Furthermore, “there will be no additional monitoring requirements for either the Commission or the national funding agencies”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)