The EU agriculture ministers will meet in Brussels on Tuesday 26 March to politically validate the measures proposed by the European Commission to allay the fears of EU farmers (see other news on the results of the European Council).
The ministers will examine the package of proposals submitted by the European Commission on 15 March, which includes a revision of the regulation on strategic plans for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and a working document setting out a timetable for strengthening the position of farmers in the food supply chain (see EUROPE 13374/12).
Relaxation of GAEC rules. EU agriculture ministers are expected to give their assent to the Commission’s proposal to ease cross-compliance requirements (rules on good agricultural and environmental conditions, or GAEC). The aim is to adopt these measures as quickly as possible, preferably without modification. The ministers will also discuss the Commission’s ideas for strengthening the position of farmers in the supply chain (launch of a European observatory of prices and margins, revision of the regulation to strengthen producer organisations, measures to combat unfair commercial practices).
Copa-Cogeca is asking for some minor adjustments. In a letter sent to the agriculture ministers (https://aeur.eu/f/bgx ), the EU’s organisations and cooperatives (Copa-Cogeca) advocate the rapid adoption of the measures on the table, while calling for “a number of clarifications and adjustments to certain elements, in particular the requirements relating to GAEC, a faster procedure for revising strategic plans and exemptions for farms of less than 10 hectares”.
The traditional debate on the state of the EU’s agricultural markets is set to focus once again on Ukraine. The Ukrainian Minister of Agriculture, Mykola Solskyi, is expected to attend the meeting. The ministers are expected to discuss the proposal to extend autonomous trade measures between the EU and Ukraine. The delicate balance between the need to support Ukraine and the appropriate guarantees for EU farmers should be at the heart of the discussions. At the same time, the issue of agricultural imports, particularly cereals, from Russia and Belarus will reportedly be addressed as well.
Ministers are also expected to highlight the negative impact of high input costs, extreme weather events and the use of crisis reserves.
A document from the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council (https://aeur.eu/f/bgy ) summarises the questions put to the ministers.
Among the other subjects to be dealt with under ‘any other business’, the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council will present the results of several events it has organised on the future of agriculture and the CAP (https://aeur.eu/f/bh1 ) as well as on animal welfare issues (https://aeur.eu/f/bh2 ).
France will seek the EU Council’s support for the appointment of Emmanuelle Soubeyran as the new Director General of the World Organisation for Animal Health for the period 2024-2029.
The Austrian delegation will alert the other Member States to the challenges posed by the implementation of the regulation on imported deforestation for European agricultural and forestry companies.
Finally, Spain, supported by the Czech, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, Dutch, Portuguese and Swedish delegations, will be asking (https://aeur.eu/f/bgz ) for discussions on new genomic techniques (NGTs) to be finalised. Given the time remaining before the European elections, it will in any case not be possible to complete this project during the current mandate.
Finally, the Romanian, Slovakian and Finnish ministers will be asking (https://aeur.eu/f/bh0 ) for a reassessment of the conservation status of brown bear populations in Europe. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)