On Monday 13 May, the EU Council is expected to approve without debate the Regulation aimed at relaxing certain rules in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Germany will be the only country to abstain from the vote.
The relaxations, which are intended to respond in part to concerns raised by EU farmers, pertain to five standards relating to good agricultural and environmental conditions (GAEC), amendment of the CAP Strategic Plans and exemptions from controls and penalties (see EUROPE 13401/1).
The work in this area is not yet complete, given that at the last Agriculture Council on 29 April in Luxembourg, several countries, including France and Ireland, asked the European Commission to reduce the constraints on GAEC 2 (wetlands) and 4 (buffer strips).
The European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, had indicated that work on GAEC 2 was underway and could soon lead to a proposal for a regulation. As requests for GAEC 4 are much more recent, he indicated that his departments would be looking into the matter.
Link to the Regulation amending the CAP rules: https://aeur.eu/f/c55 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)