EU Council backs relaxation of CAP green rules, paving way for swift approval
EU countries endorsed a proposal to ease the environmental requirements of the bloc’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the 2023-2027 period, reaching a quick deal on the sidelines of Tuesday’s (26 March) EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council.
The draft text sailed through the EU Council with only minor adjustments made to the original version presented by the European Commission on 15 March. EU diplomatic sources told Euractiv that all national delegations backed the text in today’s informal vote and only Germany abstained.
Commission unveils new package exempting small farms from environmental controls
The Commission presented on Friday (15 March) its simplification package to reduce the administrative burden of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), loosening some environmental requirements and allowing more flexibility for the member states in the implementation of the policy.
Although these measures aim to appease the recent wave of protests by the agricultural sector across Europe, farmers staged further demonstrations in Brussels’s EU quarter on Tuesday, coinciding with the ministerial meeting.
“We have listened to our farmers and we have taken swift action to address their concerns at a time when they are confronted with numerous challenges,” said David Clarinval, Belgium’s agriculture minister and current chair of the AGRIFISH Council.
“The targeted revision of the rules strikes the right balance between ensuring greater flexibility for farmers and member states and easing the administrative burden, while also maintaining a high level of environmental ambition in the common agricultural policy,” he added.
The proposal supported by the Council maintains the changes proposed by the Commission on six of the nine Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAECs) standards on which CAP payments hinge upon, giving member states more flexibility to implement the policy.
These amendments, which include exemptions on compulsory soil covers, crop rotation, and fallow land rules, can be applied as of 2024.
Additionally, according to the draft legislation, farms of under 10 hectares, which account for 65% of CAP beneficiaries, will not have to comply with environmental checks and penalties.
NGOs condemn decision
In a letter sent to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday (25 March), environmental NGOs and consumer organisations called for a withdrawal of the proposal, arguing that it “completely disregards” the democratic principles of EU decision-making.
“The European Commission has given in to the fake narrative that opposes the environment to agriculture,” the letter said. “The measures proposed will only undermine the very jobs that the CAP is meant to support in the long term,” it further stated.
The 16-organisation coalition, which includes NGOs WWF, BirdLife International, the European Environmental Bureau, environmental law charity Client Earth, and consumers organisation BEUC, slammed the Commission for scrapping the CAP’s environmental requirements without a prior impact assessment and only consulting with four farming organisations.
While the Commission argued that it did not conduct an impact assessment because of the “political urgency” of the measures aimed at addressing “a crisis situation in EU agriculture,” the organisations noted the absence of evidence supporting such urgency.
“The legislative proposal does not constitute a simplification of environmental requirements, it is backtracking,” the letter added.
The European Parliament, which used an urgent procedure to fast-track the legislative process, is expected to formally approve the proposal during its final plenary session on 22-25 April before the institutions enter a lame-duck period leading up to June’s EU elections.
Then, the Council will formally adopt the regulation, which could come into force by June 2024.
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