Norbert Lins, Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture (EPP, German), presented the main outlines of his draft report, on Wednesday 10 June, which will be discussed on 29 June in the European Parliament Committee. The text argues for maintaining a strong common agricultural policy (CAP), structured around two pillars (see EUROPE 13812/7).
Mr Lins criticises the European Commission’s proposal to group several funds within ‘national and regional partnership plans’. This structural change entails a risk: that the CAP could lose its strategic autonomy and find itself in direct budgetary competition with other national priorities.
Norbert Lins wants the agricultural budget integrated into the ‘partnership plans’ to comply strictly with the minimum floors and amounts set out in the European Parliament’s interim report on the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). Any indirect reduction linked to a merger of funds is explicitly rejected.
The CAP’s architecture must also remain clear and fully functional, with two clearly identified pillars: on the one hand, fully European financing of income support and basic direct payments; on the other, co-financed structural and rural development measures.
The draft report also provides for the ring-fencing of sectoral programmes (wine, fruit and vegetables, hops, etc.) as well as of the LEADER programme.
As regards the post-2027 CAP, the rapporteur opposes the introduction of uniform degressivity in basic payments, which is considered unfair to larger farms and of no automatic benefit to smaller holdings. He advocates a strict capping of direct aid at € 500,000, limited to natural persons, in order to protect family farms as well as small and medium-sized holdings.
The draft report also calls for redistributive payment (an increase in aid for the first hectares) to become mandatory in all Member States rather than optional.
In support of young farmers, the draft report provides for a separate specific intervention, the possibility of introducing a binding minimum budget in the regulation on partnership plans, as well as a minimum threshold of 8% of pillar 1 (direct payments) to be dedicated to them.
By contrast, any link between agricultural payments and the statutory retirement age is rejected. The rapporteur calls for this provision to be deleted so as to allow farmers to decide freely when to transfer their holding, without losing direct payments during transition phases.
In addition, the draft report calls for binding earmarking of funds intended to remunerate environmental, climate and animal welfare services. However, no fixed percentage is put forward at this stage, as this will have to be defined once the MFF has been finally adopted.
The concept of ‘Farm Stewardship’ should, according to the rapporteur, be redefined precisely.
On risk management, the draft report insists on support for multi-risk insurance, strengthening mutual funds and introducing tax relief for precautionary reserves.
As regards irrigation, it rejects general bans as well as savings targets deemed unrealistic. It argues for the development of water-efficient systems. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)