On Thursday 31 August, the European Commission turned a deaf ear to calls for an extension until 2024 of the derogations granted to certain environmental rules under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
These derogations from the rules on crop rotation and the use of set-aside land were granted for 2023 amid fears of a shortage of grain following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Appearing before the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee, Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski said that the derogations should not be renewed because the state of the market had changed. “The situation is totally different: we are considering import bans” on Ukrainian grain, he stressed, adding that the EU “should perhaps not increase production” when there is a grain surplus.
He also noted that the previous derogations were in response to an “exceptional situation. The Commission does not have the right to make another decision in this area”, explained the Commissioner. It would be necessary to propose an amendment to the CAP regulations for approval by the EU Council and the European Parliament, which would take time. At the end of July (see EUROPE 13229/5), a majority of EU agriculture ministers called for the continuation of derogations for Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) 7 (crop rotation) and 8 (set-aside). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)