A large number of Member States supported, at the ‘Agriculture’ Council on Monday 18 September, the initiative launched by Denmark to simplify the operation of the strategic plans of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
For Denmark, the approval process for these plans should focus on the objectives and needs identified and avoid concentrating on the details. Another major simplification (https://aeur.eu/f/8l6 ) would be to allow not only annual but also plurennial financial management of financial allocations for climate, the environment and animal welfare in the two pillars of the CAP (direct payments and rural development). Finally, the Danish minister asked that the process of modifying the strategic plans during the year be made easy and that the Commission respect the Member States’ national room for manoeuvre.
Luxembourg complained about the performance monitoring obligations, which require a great deal of human capacity. France also said that simplification was necessary, provided that it did not call into question the agreed common framework. France was cautious about the proposal for plurennial management of first-pillar funds.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, acknowledged that “this first year of implementing strategic plans has been difficult for national administrations”. He expressed his willingness to simplify the approval process for strategic plans. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)