Fallows, hedges, crop rotation... Brussels proposed legislative revisions on Friday to drastically ease the environmental rules of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), hotly contested by the sector across the EU.
To the great dismay of environmental NGOs, the European Commission is therefore proposing to relax, or even eliminate, part of the strict “green” criteria that the new CAP (2023-2027), which came into force last year, imposes on farmers respect to receive European payments.
“The objective is to further reduce the administrative burden, to give farmers and States greater flexibility to comply with certain conditions, without reducing the overall level of environmental ambition,” said the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
“It will be possible to apply certain standards in a way that is more compatible with the realities that farmers face on a daily basis on the ground,” she insisted.
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Thus, farms must currently leave at least 4% of arable land fallow or non-productive areas (hedges, groves, ponds, etc.).
A criterion that has become a scarecrow for farmers demonstrating in the EU.
After granting a temporary suspension for 2023 and then 2024, Brussels is proposing to completely remove the obligation from the legislation, leaving only the ban on trimming hedges during nesting periods.
Farmers “will always be able to choose to do so on a voluntary basis” in exchange for bonuses (“eco-schemes”), Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski told AFP.
“In practice, farmers would be encouraged to maintain non-productive areas, but without fearing a loss of income if they cannot do so,” said Ursula von der Leyen.
Entry into force in 2025
Among the “conditionalities” criticized by agricultural organizations which consider them impractical in the face of climatic hazards: the obligation of crop rotation, with a crop different from the previous year on 35% of arable land.
It could be replaced by a simple “diversification”.
For the ban on bare floors during sensitive periods, “the idea would be that these periods are not rigid, that the state can define them flexibly taking into account regional differences”, underlined Janusz Wojciechowski.
“Most of the changes would come into force in 2025, but apply retroactively to January 1, 2024. Farmers would not be penalized for not having respected these conditionalities” this year, he insisted.
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Another major change: the Commission is proposing to exempt farms of less than 10 ha from controls and penalties linked to environmental conditions, which represent 65% of CAP beneficiaries, but only cover 9.6% of the surface area.
Member states and MEPs should examine these proposals quickly with a view to possibly endorsing them by the end of April.
States would then have until the end of 2025 to translate European environmental and climate legislation into their national plans.
And in the event of extreme climatic episodes (drought, floods, etc.) preventing farmers from complying with the requirements of the CAP, States would be free to introduce temporary exemptions, reserved for the operators concerned so that they do not incur penalties. .
Simplifications castigated by environmentalists
Environmental NGOs denounce an “electoralist” dismantling of the green architecture of the CAP, with no guarantee of defusing the agricultural malaise.
“Blindly abandoning environmental measures will not appease farmers who are suffering from unfair prices and the climate emergency, with long-term sustainability needs,” argues Anu Suono of WWF.
“It is scandalous to want to carry out legislative weakening of the CAP as part of an accelerated procedure without an impact study, under the cover of administrative simplification”, compromising “the necessary adaptation to climate change”, reacted the MEP German Green Martin Haüsling.
Now the EU-Commission Vorschläge zu legislativen Änderungen an der #GAP vor
👉Unter dem Deckmantel der Verringerung des Verwaltungdessuswandes wird dabei die #Ökologisierung der GAP abgeschwächt❗️
Mein Kommentar⬇️https://t.co/cuwF96lkph
— Martin Häusling (@MartinHaeusling) March 14, 2024
Concerns brushed aside by Brussels: “This development will in no way weaken the environmental aspect, we obtain more results with encouragements and bonuses than with constraints” and penalties, believes Janusz Wojciechowski, calling for “take farmers to task”. serious ".
The French Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau was “delighted with the progress achieved”, also saying he was “very vigilant so that the first responses provided by the European Commission are implemented quickly”.
Emmanuel Macron will receive the agricultural union organizations “next week”, announced the government.