At their meeting in Brussels on 21 and 22 March, the EU Heads of State and Government are expected to welcome the first steps towards tackling the crisis facing the farming world.
The European Commission has presented a legislative proposal simplifying certain rules of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), as well as proposals for action to strengthen the role of farmers in the food supply chain. “I think that the proposals have been well received by farmers”, said a diplomatic source on Wednesday 20 March (see EUROPE 13374/12).
The European Council’s conclusions focus on three areas: simplification to reduce the administrative burden, farmers’ ability to negotiate in the value chain, and fairness in the implementation of the rules, especially where imports are concerned.
The draft conclusions also mention the need to deal fairly with the issue of autonomous trade measures for Ukraine (see other news). A provisional agreement has been reached on the regulation that will extend the suspension of tariffs on Ukrainian products. However, the Member States did not yet support the text of the agreement on Wednesday 20 March, as some Member States need more time to analyse it. The discussion focused in particular on grains from Ukraine.
Link to the European Council’s draft conclusions of 19 March: https://aeur.eu/f/bfg (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur, with the editorial staff)