On Monday 4 April, the European Commission published a document providing an overview of its observations following the assessment of 19 national strategic plans on the implementation of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
On 31 March, the Commission services sent observation letters on 19 draft CAP strategic plans submitted by Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
These letters, which will be made public at the end of April, identify elements of the plans that require further explanation, completion or adjustment before the Commission is in a position to approve these plans (see EUROPE 12915/13).
The published document summarises, without being exhaustive, some of the elements of the 19 draft plans and corresponding comments which are detailed in the corresponding letters for each country.
EU Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski said the observation letters would only be made public at the end of April to give capitals time to change the strategic plans in the context of the war started by Russia in Ukraine.
The document states that the plans will need to be reviewed to ensure that they take full advantage of the opportunities to: - strengthen the resilience of the EU’s agricultural sector; - reduce Member States’ dependence on synthetic fertilisers (and increase renewable energy production without compromising food production); - transform production capacity in line with more sustainable production methods.
The new CAP will enter into force on 1 January 2023.
The Agriculture Council on 7 April will discuss the effects of the war on food security and agricultural markets (see EUROPE 12924/12).
Link to the document in question: https://aeur.eu/f/13f (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)