On Monday 27 October in Luxembourg, the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU organised a debate between the European agriculture ministers on the future green architecture of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), but the discussions focused mainly on the new architecture proposed by the European Commission, which continues to meet with strong opposition.
The agriculture ministers have reiterated their refusal to integrate the CAP into a single fund, namely the national and regional partnership plans planned for the period 2028-2034 of the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) (see EUROPE 13737/12).
Austria, which also reiterated the declaration (https://aeur.eu/f/j3k ) by 17 countries in favour of maintaining the common nature of the CAP, its two pillars and a solid budget, criticised the new governance brought about by the proposal. In particular, it condemned the transfer of some CAP-related work to the horizontal level, which, as we saw during the negotiations on the package to simplify the CAP rules (led by the EU General Affairs Council), creates “delays and uncertainties” that are detrimental to the proper conduct of agricultural policy.
The Italian minister, Francesco Lollobrigida, said that it would be difficult to achieve environmental sustainability targets without solid financial resources. In his view, the Commission needs to “turn back the clock” and put the CAP back at the heart of EU policies.
With regard to environmental architecture, several ministers welcomed the retention of the principle of environmental conditionality, which partly reflects the current rules. However, some delegations also criticised the possibility of remunerating the implementation of certain standards, believing that this runs counter to the maintenance of a common base guaranteeing a level playing field between European farmers, as emphasised by France.
Annie Genevard, the French minister, criticised as well the requirement for Member States to co-finance certain environmental schemes at a minimum rate of 30%. Compared with current conditions, this new rule runs the risk of “severely limiting support in this area”, depending on the resources available in each Member State. In addition, France stated that the absence of a minimum threshold for environmental and climate spending was a further sign that the common nature of the CAP was being “rolled back”.
Italy and other countries criticised as well the Commission’s plan to introduce a new type of aid for the transition to more resilient agriculture, in the form of a lump sum. Under this scheme, farmers would draw up a ‘transition action plan’, approved by the management authority, in order to qualify for funding of up to €200,000 to implement the transition to more sustainable production systems - including conversion to organic farming or extensification of livestock systems.
However, according to several ministers, this action plan could lead to excessive administrative burdens.
“As with any reform, we are here, of course, to discuss and negotiate, and I want to say that I am entirely open to that”, replied the Commissioner for Agriculture, Christophe Hansen. He acknowledged that the outcome of the negotiations should not lead to further complexity and added that some ministers had stressed the importance of the Commission’s recommendations in future national partnership plans.
Furthermore, the Commission defended “an important new instrument” in the form of a flat-rate payment of up to €200,000 per farm to support the transition to more sustainable production systems, as Mr Hansen pointed out when presenting the proposal.
The Commissioner stated that incentives would be at the heart of the future CAP, even more so than in the current policy. Although the mandatory “green” spending threshold will disappear, “Member States will have to plan according to their needs and guarantee a spending target for the climate and the environment as part of their national partnership plans”, he assured.
For the Commission, the adoption of sustainable practices “will remain more attractive thanks” to the new green rules, which will offer greater flexibility in farm management, the possibility of more generous rewards and simplified investment provisions.
According to the Danish minister, Jacob Jensen, the ministers have asked for more flexibility in deciding which measures to implement in favour of the environment, and have criticised the administrative burden arising from the transition action plan. Furthermore, the current presidency of the EU Council stated that many ministers have warned against the fragmentation of the CAP resulting from the integration of its provisions into a single legislative proposal. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)