On Tuesday 25 April, the European ministers of agriculture and fisheries discussed the agricultural and forestry aspects of the proposal for a regulation establishing an EU certification framework for carbon removals, presented by the Commission on 30 November 2022 (see EUROPE 13074/9).
Opening the policy debate, the Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides recalled the “essential role” played by the agricultural sector in this area and the “economic opportunities for farmers and foresters” it represented.
While all Member States were in favour of the Commission’s proposal, many agriculture ministers called for a simple certification framework that does not create an administrative burden for farmers. For example, Greek Secretary General Konstantinos Baginetas said he wanted to “ensure the widest possible accessibility to the certification framework”. In addition, Marc Fesneau, the French minister, stressed that this framework should be sufficiently attractive in economic terms to attract strong support from the agricultural sector.
The Belgian minister David Clarinval expressed the view that the basic act should include certification methods. ‘Carbon certificates’ should be allocated based on the current situation and not on models. He supported, as did other ministers, temporary carbon storage.
Finally, various Member States indicated the need to find sources of funding other than the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to establish this system. The Danish minister recalled that many carbon farming activities “already have support from the Common Agricultural Policy” and asked, therefore, that the Commission “clarify the link between certification and agricultural support from the CAP”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur and Nithya Paquiry)