The Member States’ representatives on the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) endorsed, on Tuesday 26 March, a targeted review of certain basic acts of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in response to farmers’ concerns (see EUROPE 13378/7).
The acts (https://aeur.eu/f/bi8 ) allow Member States to grant temporary derogations from certain cross-compliance requirements (Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition, or GAEC) in the event of weather conditions preventing farmers from complying (Member States must inform the Commission).
Specific exemptions from certain GAEC standards have been introduced:
- GAEC 6 (soil cover during sensitive periods): Member States will have more flexibility to decide which soils to protect and in which season, based on national and regional specificities;
- GAEC 7 (crop rotation): crop rotation will remain the main practice, but Member States will be able to use crop diversification as an alternative; this practice is less demanding for farmers, particularly in areas prone to drought or high rainfall;
- GAEC 8: farmers will only be required to maintain existing landscape features and will from now on be encouraged, on a voluntary basis, to keep land fallow or to create new landscape features through eco-schemes.
The revision also exempts small farms of less than 10 hectares from the controls and penalties associated with compliance with conditionality requirements under the CAP. It will allow EU countries to amend their CAP strategic plans twice a year, on a permanent basis, instead of just once as is currently the case.
The European Parliament’s position should be adopted at the plenary session from 22 to 25 April. The regulation must then be formally adopted by the EU Council, signed by the representatives of the EU Council and the European Parliament and published in the Official Journal. The regulations will come into force at the end of spring. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)