On Monday 27 April, the EU agriculture ministers will debate the arrangements for direct aid after 2027, a subject that divides the Member States (see EUROPE 13753/3).
A note from the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU, ahead of this debate in Luxembourg, states that, according to the Commission’s proposal for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2027, Member States must ensure that income support is primarily targeted at farmers whose main activity is agriculture.
Cyprus recalls that the Council delegations recognise the need to target income support at farmers engaged in agricultural activity, while taking account of the diversity of agricultural structures in the EU.
The proposal introduces degressive area-based income support (DABIS), granting payments on the basis of eligible hectares, greatly simplified (abolition of duties), while introducing degressivity in order to gradually reduce support for large farms and promote a more balanced distribution. In addition, payments would be capped at €100,000 per farm per year. They would also be differentiated on the basis of objective, non-discriminatory criteria linked to farmers’ income.
The proposal also provides for support to be targeted at specific groups of farmers, such as young farmers and women farmers, the possibility of excluding farmers reaching retirement age from DABIS after a transitional phase (until 2032), and the introduction of minimum and maximum levels of average support per hectare.
Link to the note: https://aeur.eu/f/lk3 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)