The tight timetable to present common agricultural policy (CAP) strategic plans is worrying several EU agriculture ministers: this was the sentiment that emerged from discussions held on Monday, 6 September, and Tuesday, 7 September, in Slovenia at the informal meeting of EU agriculture ministers.
During a meeting of the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) on Monday, the European Commission also indicated that the implementing acts and delegated acts implementing the CAP will only be published as of the end of November or even early December. Faced with several impatient delegations, the European Commission indicated that the most urgent draft acts would be prepared and discussed in advance to allow them to be adopted “as soon as possible”.
Several delegations asked the European Commission about the possibility of submitting national strategic plans after the deadline, which is the end of December 2021.
“We need the secondary legislation to have all the details and finalise our text; that takes time. We are worried, and we are not the only ones”, explained Czech Deputy Minister for Agriculture Jiří Šír in Slovenia. According to him, Article 106 of the Regulation on Strategic Plans permits a State to submit an incomplete national strategic plan in duly justified cases.
Yet, Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski is against this flexibility. He wants the plans to be presented by the end of December.
Belgium is also in a difficult position. “We have two strategic plans: for Flanders and Wallonia. It will be difficult to finalise them before the end of the year”, said Minister David Clarinval.
“We are working hard with the idea that 1 January is our deadline. It’s a challenge”, said Minister Charlie McConalogue of Ireland.
The three EU institutions had hammered out an agreement on CAP reform at the end of June. By the end of 2021, each State must prepare a strategic plan detailing its use of the funds. This plan will have to be approved, after discussions, by the European Commission in order to release the funds.
“I expect negotiations to be tough on the difficult issues: the size of redistributive payments, eco-schemes, organic [farming]”, explained Mr Wojciechowski on Monday.
“The problem will be determining whether these plans are ambitious enough”, environmentally speaking, “or whether they need to be beefed up”, he continued.
Rural areas. On Tuesday, the EU ministers discussed strengthening the dialogue between urban and rural areas. “Particularly challenging is the integration of agriculture and its practices into the new rural settlement structure”, according to a press release from the Slovenian Presidency of the Council. Minister Jože Podgoršek of Slovenia stated that the debate was an important contribution for the future of rural areas. The European Commission presented a document on the long-term vision for rural areas. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)