Brussels, 17/03/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 18 March, the European Commission is to adopt a communication on a “simplified common agricultural policy (CAP) for Europe - to everyone's benefit”. The communication sets out what has been accomplished since 2005: - technical simplification (legislative trimming, 2007 regulation grouping all sector-specific common market organisations, increased ceiling for de minimis aid granted by member states) and simplification of a political kind (reforms in the sugar, fruit and vegetables, wine, single payment scheme sectors, etc). Measures recommended for the future include training on the ground of DG Agriculture officials.
Given progress made to date and the roadmap of what has still to be done, it is realistic to believe that the aim of a 25% reduction in administrative charges by 2012 will be reached, the Commission writes. Also, if such were the case, this would be all the more impressive as the CAP comes within a dynamic environment policy which must take account of various and often diverging financial and political interests and a broad range of cultural and agricultural structures, the services of Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, were pleased to state. Progress made over the past few years will in no way lead to the cessation of simplification in the agricultural sector. Simplification and the reduction of pointless administrative charges are “permanent tasks that are not accomplished on their own”. In order to maintain the pace and create an environment that offers conditions suitable for continued CAP simplification, the following programmes and projects are planned for coming years.
Acquiring experience: As of 2010, a training programme including a stay on a farm will be created for officials of the Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development. The programme must allow them to better understand the reality of the sector and the challenges facing it. This heightened understanding will result in policies that are more adapted to the concrete situation of farmers and in regulations of a better quality.
Common date for taking effect: Legislative changes made in the CAP are generally applicable at set dates, such as the beginning of a marketing year. In order to facilitate control of the policy and political changes, and to anticipate them, the possible introduction of common dates for the enforcement of legislative amendments to the CAP will be examined more closely.
Cross compliance: The Commission will endeavour to simplify and harmonise the legal framework relating to the communication and safeguarding of information and documents in the context of shared CAP management. The new framework could finally be applied to all communications relating to the CAP other than communications of a financial nature and, through information technology, to all systems existing in this context. Such systems may be managed by the European Commission or by the relevant authorities of member states. Also, the new legal framework could include provisions relating to access to information collected for all authorities concerned and for the public.
Quality policy: The Green Paper on the policy for the quality of farm products was published on 15 October 2008. It launches a broad public consultation exercise on quality policy and tackles the question of simplification and reduction of the administrative burden, mainly when it comes to marketing norms and standards, certification systems and geographical indication systems. Once the public consultation exercise is over, the Commission will publish a communication in May 2009. Some of the options contained in the communication could have major consequences in terms of simplification and reduction of red tape.
Continuation of action plan: The action plan will remain adaptable as new projects are added and implemented. One of these new projects will concern the hop sector. Hop farmers are currently under an obligation to register production contracts. This registration allows essential information to be obtained on the market and creates a certain market transparency. This, however, is a heavy task for planters and administrations. In order to reduce the administrative burden, other
solutions allowing information on the market to be obtained in the hop sector will be examined. Depending on the results of the assessment, adjusted proposals will be presented.
Regular revision: The Commission will examine the possibility of revising legislation at regular intervals, thus allowing older legislative acts to be amended if necessary.
Language used and accessibility of legal texts: The Commission will endeavour to simplify the readability of legislative acts and, to this end, will carry out an assessment of the language used and contemplate the possibility of training in the drafting of texts.
Continued exchange of best practice: The Commission will continue to organise meetings with member states and interested parties and develop activities for further simplification of the CAP.
In January 2009, the action plan on simplification of the CAP included about 50 measures, of which 43 have already been implemented. A number of measures have proven beneficial for operators and/or farmers, such as the abolition of the obligation to present an export certificate for beef and veal (reduction of the cost of exporting beef and veal by around €16 per tonne on average), new rules for the labelling of eggs (the new rules allow eggs to be collected, sorted, marked and packaged within ten days after the date when they are laid rather than having to harvest them every three working days) and the simplification of norms and standards for the marketing of fruit and vegetables (reduction of the number of specific norms from 36 to 10 for apples, citrus fruit, kiwis, lettuce and endives, peaches and nectarines, pears, strawberries, sweet peppers, table grapes and tomatoes). (L.C./transl.jl)