First vote on simplification of EU agriculture laws

The Agriculture and Rural Development Committee adopted its position on Wednesday on a proposal to simplify the current EU common agricultural policy. In the draft resolution adopted by the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee (AGRI) by 38 votes to 8 and with 2 abstentions, MEPs call for further flexibility and support for farmers in complying with common agricultural policy (CAP) rules.

Environmental requirements
MEPs backed a series of changes to introduce more flexibility into how farms can abide by the CAP’s environmental rules.More specifically, they agreed that not only farms that are certified as entirely organic, but also farms where only some parts are certified as organic and farms situated in special conservation areas, should be automatically considered as meeting some of the requirements to maintain land in good agricultural and environmental condition (GAEC).

To protect the environment and biodiversity, MEPs want to prolong even further the time it takes for grassland to be considered permanent. This is partly to discourage farmers from ploughing it, for arable use, just before the end of the period. The proposal is to expand the definition of permanent grassland to include land that has not been included in the crop rotation and has not been ploughed, tilled or reseeded for at least seven years, or land that was not classified as arable as of 1 January 2023.

Crisis payments
The AGRI Committee is against the proposed new type of direct payment for farmers who have been affected by natural disasters. However, the MEPs agree with the new crisis payment under rural development funds proposed by the Commission, and add animal disease outbreaks to the list of events whose impact on farmers could justify such aid. The adopted text also proposes to lower the threshold of average annual production or income in losses, from at least 20%, proposed by the Commission, to at least 15%, so that more farmers are eligible for national financial contributions to premiums for insurance schemes or to mutual funds.

Small farmers and changes to strategic plans
MEPs propose to increase maximum limits for the support of small farmers: an annual payment to up to €5,000 (rather than the proposed €2,500) and a new one-off payment for business development up to €75,000. MEPs also want to shorten the time the Commission would have to approve member states’ requests to make strategic amendments to national strategic plans, from three to two months.

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Source: European Parliament