On Monday 29 April in Luxembourg, the EU agriculture ministers welcomed the measures adopted rapidly in response to farmers’ anger, but warned that the work was not yet finished, particularly when it came to ways to strengthen farmers’ position in the food supply chain.
On 13 May, the EU Council is due to adopt the simplification measures for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). However, the work is not yet complete. In particular, some ministers have asked for minor adjustments to be made to ‘good agricultural and environmental conditions’ (GAEC) (cross-compliance of CAP aid) numbers 2 (protection of wetlands and peatlands) and 4 (obligation to maintain buffer strips along watercourses, canals and ditches). France spoke of the need for adjustments to GAEC 2 and 4, Latvia and Ireland GAEC 2, while Sweden mentioned GAEC 7 (crop rotation).
The Commission is continuing its simplification drive. In June, for example, it will be presenting a proposal to amend the rules on the use of geotagged photos.
In addition, the Commission has launched an investigation into administrative burdens. It will be followed by in-depth interviews with selected respondents, and the results will be published, along with a detailed analysis, in autumn 2024.
German concerns. “What worries me a little is that some people see the reduction of bureaucracy in a completely different way, namely going back on the ecological elements of the CAP and on the level of ambition of the old objectives”, said the German minister, Cem Özdemir. In his view, going back too much on ‘green’ elements could create other problems in the future. He emphasised the benefits of GAEC 7 on crop rotation, “which we need to ensure that the soil remains fertile in the future”.
Farmers’ position. As far as very short-term measures are concerned, the first step is the setting up (still in progress) of an observatory for the EU agri-food chain (see EUROPE 13387/3).
For the future, the Commission is considering targeted amendments to the regulation on common market organisation (CMO): - strengthening contracts involving farmers at EU level (written contracts and better integration of market conditions); - cooperation between farmers and other operators (strengthening the bargaining power of producer organisations in collective negotiations); - improving the credibility of voluntary fair trade and short supply chain systems (minimum standards, conditions for broadening sustainability agreements to include social dimensions). The Commission intends to propose these targeted amendments before the summer break, according to Janusz Wojciechowski, the European Commissioner for Agriculture.
De minimis aid. Germany, supported by some 15 EU countries, has asked the Commission to raise the threshold for de minimis aid (over a three year period) from €20,000 to €50,000. The current threshold dates from 2019 and does not take account of the economic situation, argued the German minister, who concluded: “I hope that the Commission will implement this measure quickly”.
De minimis aid is public aid that a country may grant to a farm without formal notification or prior approval from the Commission. “The framework needs to evolve, if only in terms of indexation to inflation, but not all countries have the financial capacity to help their farmers”, warned Belgian minister David Clarinval, the current chair of this Council. “We’ll have to listen to all points of view, and we’ll no doubt hear both sides of the argument”, he added.
Indeed, at the Council meeting, Denmark criticised the plan to raise the de minimis threshold, while the Netherlands indicated the need to measure the impact of this change. Portugal warned against the risk of renationalising the CAP. The Commission indicated that it is working on ways to increase this threshold, as called for by the European Council on 18 April.
Strategic dialogue. During their working lunch, the ministers took stock of the work of the strategic dialogue on the future of EU agriculture. The Commission confirmed that by the end of the summer it would receive concrete recommendations from the dialogue participants, which will guide the Commission’s work over the coming years to determine the post-2027 CAP. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)