Meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday 25 April, European agriculture ministers discussed the difficulties in implementing the strategic plans for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which will come into force at the beginning of 2023.
“We must do everything to ensure the effective implementation of the strategic plans of the CAP”, EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski told the ministers.
The Commission has published an overview of the 28 strategic plans (https://aeur.eu/f/6jj ), which show “a great diversity of approaches to address different specific problems”, said Mr Wojciechowski.
The Commission will publish a full report on compliance with the CAP objectives by the end of 2023. “Most Member States have opened applications for direct payments, or will do so very soon, and we are starting to set up new IT tools for monitoring”, the Commissioner added.
Ministers asked the Commission to demonstrate that it is flexible on in-year changes to strategic plans. The German and French delegations in particular regretted that the implementation of the plans was very complex. Denmark reported a lower-than-expected application rate for eco-regimes. Spain mentioned the impossibility of complying with certain rules due to the drought. Harmonisation of sanctions against farmers has been requested by Italy. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)