In a document dated Tuesday 20 February seen by EUROPE, the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council has compiled the suggestions made by EU countries for reducing the administrative burden on farmers, ahead of the Agriculture Council meeting on Monday 26 February devoted to measures to ease the anger of farmers.
On Thursday 22 February, the European Commission is due to present a working document (see EUROPE 13354/4) on ways of simplifying the rules of the common agricultural policy (CAP).
Furthermore, on Wednesday 21 February, the Commission confirmed the withdrawal of the proposal on the sustainable use of pesticides.
The Belgian Presidency’s document cites the flexibilities to be introduced in terms of conditionality: GAEC 2 (protection of wetlands and peatland), GAEC 6 (minimum soil cover), GAEC 7 (crop rotation), GAEC 8 (set-aside land, countries are calling for a structural solution rather than annual derogations).
With the introduction of eco-schemes, there is a risk of unspent funds in Pillar 1 of the CAP (direct aid, annual budget), particularly when more ambitious measures are applied, states the Belgian document.
As a result, greater flexibility in the use of unspent funds is required during the financial year. Different solutions are possible: greater flexibility between pillars in the same year or greater flexibility between years in Pillar 1 and/or greater flexibility between different interventions.
In addition, the conditions laid down in EU regulations for financing an eco-scheme (additional payment to basic income support) are deemed to be “too strict”.
Another comment is that the obligation to include the registration of plant protection products in the single application for sustainable or reduced use measures “constitutes an administrative burden for farmers and the added value is limited, given that on-the-spot checks are already carried out”. It should be up to the Member State to choose the control method.
In addition, some delegations are calling for the introduction of social conditionality in the CAP to be postponed and, with regard to controls, for the use of high-quality satellite images to be facilitated in order to reduce the need for on-the-spot checks. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)