European Union concludes agreement to reform the Common Agricultural Policy
After more than 42 hours of negotiations, on Wednesday morning the countries of the European Union (EU) reached an agreement on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which will regulate the European countryside between 2023 and 2027.
The EU's agriculture ministers approved the three regulations that make up the reform: the national strategic plans, the common organisation of the markets and the regulation on financing aid.
The agreement was preceded by intense debate, many conflicting interests and some clashes. The new Common Agricultural Policy had the only vote against by Lithuania and abstentions by Latvia, Bulgaria and Romania.
In the end, a text drawn up by Germany, which currently holds the presidency of the Council of the Union, was approved. "We think it is a balanced proposal and responds to the different sensitivities. It is imperfect but very good", said the Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas.
The Spanish Minister particularly highlighted the agreement reached for the ecoschemes, new complementary aid that will give priority to sustainable agricultural and livestock practices, as it represents a "solid solution that offers flexibility to Member States for its implementation".
Furthermore, the Minister appreciated the fact that the extension of vineyard planting rights beyond 2030, when the current system expires, has finally been included in the agreement, as requested by Spain and France. These figures have been modified "to propose to the European Parliament that we extend it until 2040", explained Planas.
The German Minister of Agriculture, Julia Klöckner, indicated that now that there is a mandate, the Council will be able to make progress in the negotiations with the European Parliament for the definitive approval of the CAP.
This meeting of agriculture ministers is a first step. Member States now have to detail the interventions or measures under the new CAP in the framework of their own national strategic plan. And this in turn, after being drawn up, will have to be approved by the European Commission before it can be implemented.
The European Union has understood that biodiversity is key to crop quality. The objectives of the future CAP include improving environmental protection and the fight against climate change, promoting sustainable development and energy and ensuring efficient management of resources.
The new CAP also aims to contribute more actively to protecting biodiversity, improving ecosystems and preserving habitats and landscapes.
One of the main innovative measures is the eco-schemes, an instrument that will serve to encourage farming practices that have a more beneficial impact on the climate and the environment.
Countries supported making these eco-schemes compulsory for Member States and voluntary for farmers. They also called for 20% of direct payments to be allocated to such practices.
The CAP for the period 2023-2027 will be provided with some 390,000 million euros from the European budget, of which 47,724 million will go to the farmers in Spain. This is a similar sum to that for the 2014-2020 period, as confirmed by the figures from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Following the Council's agreement, the European Parliament plans to vote on the whole reform next Friday.
This will be followed by the so-called "trilogues", in which the Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament will conclude the negotiation of the regulations, which should be completed by the beginning of next year.
The process of approving the regulations will then take place and the States will have to finalise their national strategic plans.
There is still a long process to ratify this reform which focuses all its efforts on continuing to increase agricultural productivity but, this time, taking into account the environment and the transformation towards sustainable work.