On Thursday 2 December, the Council of the European Union adopted without debate the three regulations reforming the common agricultural policy (CAP).
The texts will be published on 6 December in the Official Journal of the EU. The new CAP will enter into force on 1 January 2023 and in 2022 the European Commission will have to adopt the national strategic plans presented by the EU countries (see EUROPE 12838/11, 12749/1).
For the first time, the CAP will include social conditionality, which will be voluntary from 2023 and mandatory from 2025.
In addition, Member States will be required to allocate at least 10% of their national direct payment envelope to a redistributive payment for small and medium-sized farmers.
New rules will require farmers to set aside at least 4% of their arable land for non-productive areas. If they want to include catch crops and nitrogen-fixing crops, the share should increase to at least 7%, with 3% of the land devoted to non-productive elements or left fallow.
Member States will have to allocate at least 25% of their income support budget to eco-regimes, i.e. a total of €48 billion of the direct payments budget, with the option of allocating only 20% in 2023 and 2024.
Link to the regulation on strategic plans: https://bit.ly/3G6IVgd
Link to the horizontal regulation: https://bit.ly/3FYCGv0
Link to the CMO text: https://bit.ly/3IofecG (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)