- BRUSSELS - The EU Commission has presented a package of proposals that outlines the first possible actions to help reduce the administrative burdens placed on farmers' shoulders.
The document, which will be discussed with member states at the Agricultural Council on 26 February, lists a number of short- and medium-term actions that can be taken to achieve simplification.
"With this series of actions, we are keeping the commitment we made to our farmers," underlined Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
.
In the non-paper sent to national governments, Brussels proposes to reduce bureaucracy and controls - up to 50% - for farmers, also providing for various exemptions from cross-compliance obligations to obtain CAP funds.
"The set of basic standards (in technical jargon BCAA, good agricultural and environmental conditions) that all farmers must respect" to receive funding "has proven difficult to implement", underlines the EU executive.
For this reason, in addition to the new stop already approved for the whole of 2024 on the obligation to put 4% of land fallow, the EU executive proposes to modify the BCAA1 rules by mid-March, which imposes the obligation to maintain the permanent grasslands in the EU stable since the reference year 2018. The measure, explains the EU executive, should "ensure that farmers are not penalized in their work, helping to reduce burdens as fewer areas should be converted into permanent grasslands" .
Brussels also proposes to clarify the use of the concept of "force majeure" and "exceptional circumstances" to allow farmers who cannot meet all the requirements of the CAP due to exceptional and unforeseeable events outside their control - as in the case of severe drought or floods - not to have sanctions imposed.
The Commission will then launch an online consultation in March aimed directly at farmers to "identify the main sources of concern and understand the sources of administrative burdens and complexity arising from the rules of the CAP" and other regulations relating to "food and agriculture and their application at the national level".
The survey, highlights Brussels, "will provide a clearer picture of the main obstacles by the summer" and "the results will be included in a more detailed analysis to be published in autumn 2024".
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