Luxembourg, 12/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - EU agriculture ministers said, in conclusions adopted in Luxembourg on Monday 11 June, that they welcomed the measures announced by the European Commission to improve how cross-compliance of direct aid (granting payment on condition that animal welfare, environmental and quality criteria are met) works.
The Council called on the Commission to ensure that the planned legislative measures were adopted rapidly and, where possible, be applied in 2007. The measures provide for: - tolerance of minor infringements (of cross-compliance rules) which would allow cases to be closed without the need for further checks (provided immediate remedial action has been taken by the farmer); - the introduction of a de minimis rule under the terms of which relatively low reductions in aid (€100 was suggested in the Council conclusions) would not be applied to farmers (rather a warning would be sent); - the abolition of the ten-month rule (which requires farmers to have the land for which they claim single payment at their disposal for ten months); - the phasing-in of cross-compliance provisions for member states applying the Single Area Payment Scheme from 2009, including Bulgaria and Romania (from 2012 for these latter two countries), as well as for those member states which intend to introduce the single farm payment before the deadline; - simplification of the existing control system (prior warning, levels of control). (lc)