At the EU ‘Agriculture’ Council on Monday 26 May, a large majority of ministers expressed their desire to see the simplification of agricultural rules remain within their remit.
They dispute the decision by the Polish Presidency of the EU Council and the European Commission to have it examined by the EU ‘General Affairs’ Council.
In principle, all ‘omnibus’ regulations must be adopted by the ministers meeting in the EU ‘General Affairs’ Council. The text relating to agriculture is no exception to this rule, much to the dismay of the agriculture ministers, who want to be able to deal with it themselves, with the help of the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA).
Sixteen agriculture ministers have written to the Polish Presidency of the EU Council asking it to give the EU ‘Agriculture’ Council a decisive role on proposals to simplify certain CAP rules (see EUROPE 13640/8).
In general, the ministers welcomed the content of the proposal on simplification (flexibility, with regard to category 1, of Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC)).
Ireland is said to have wanted the proposal to go further on GAEC 2. Italy, too, wanted see a more ambitious proposal for simplification, as did Sweden in particular.
In addition, the ministers of a number of countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia) have called for the social conditionality introduced in the last CAP reform to be abolished in the next simplification package (expected at the end of 2025).
CAP data. Several ministers (including those from Finland and Latvia) have criticised the plan to designate a management authority in this area. In its proposal, the Commission considers that the lack of a coordination structure at Member State level hinders the smooth exchange of data between the information systems used to implement, monitor and evaluate the CAP. It is therefore proposed that each Member State designate an authority responsible for developing and implementing a ‘roadmap’ to achieve and maintain interoperability and the seamless exchange of data.
The European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, Christophe Hansen, has specified that countries that already have such an authority will not have to create a new one. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)