The Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU, together with the European Commission, expressed optimism at the informal meeting of Agriculture Ministers in Lisbon on Tuesday 15 June that a political agreement on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) could be reached by the end of June.
The next Agriculture Council, on 28 and 29 June in Luxembourg, could thus endorse the agreement between the EU institutions, hoped for during the ‘super trilogue’ on 24 and 25 June (see EUROPE 12739/3).
EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said he was “confident that we will finalise the agreement on CAP reform this month, during the Portuguese Presidency”.
Portuguese Agriculture Minister Maria do Céu Antunes told a press conference that the negotiations had entered a crucial phase. The intensity of the negotiations will be increased, she said.
The EU Ministers believe that the conditions are in place to conclude by the end of June, added the current chair of the Agriculture Council.
She said that the compromise under discussion provided for 25% for eco-regimes, with a 2-year learning phase, and 35% for second-pillar (rural development) spending on climate and environment. One issue that remains open is the inclusion in the CAP of the objectives of the ‘European Green Deal’, confirmed Maria do Céu Antunes.
The EU Council still has work to do on the strategic plans. Experts from EU countries met in Lisbon on Monday 14 June in the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) to assess the room for manoeuvre in order to facilitate an agreement with the European Parliament on CAP reform. There was no agreement on the elements still to be discussed in the proposal on strategic plans (share of non-productive areas, green envelope of the second pillar). Delegations also reiterated their doubts about the link that the Parliament wants to establish between the new CAP and the strategies of the ‘European Green Deal’. The Portuguese Presidency intends to prepare a ‘final position’ of the EU Council on the strategic plans for the SCA on 21 June, before the ‘super trilogue’ on 24-25 June.
International trade. The Portuguese Presidency proposed a new version of the draft joint declaration of the EU institutions on international trade. This declaration will accompany the text of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) regulation. The Presidency continues to include in this text the Parliament’s amendment on ending the tolerance for pesticide residue limits in imports. The rapporteur, Eric Andrieu (S&D, France), still insists that these provisions should be included in the CMO regulation and has set them as a red line. Mr Andrieu reiterated on Tuesday 15 June that the planned ban on tolerances for pesticide residue limits in imported products is in line with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.
In addition, the draft statement calls on the European Commission to publish an assessment of the application of EU health and environmental standards in the first quarter of 2022 (end of 2021 according to the previous version of the draft statement).
Link to the latest ‘four column’ document on the ‘strategic plans’ regulation: https://bit.ly/3wrSge1 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)