News item | 16-02-2024 | 4:15 PM
The tens of thousands of farmers who participated in the eco scheme last year will still receive full compensation for their sustainability activities. Due to the great enthusiasm for the new sustainability subsidy, part of the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the subsidy rates were in danger of being significantly lower. That is now a thing of the past, because the European Commission has approved the one-off use of 50 million euros from the LNV budget, so that farmers still receive the planned amounts of support for their sustainability performance.
Minister Piet Adema of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV): “I worked hard in Brussels to achieve this compensation and am extremely happy that this was successful. Farmers who have made their business more sustainable must be able to trust that they will receive the reward they expected. I thank the European Commission for their cooperation. The great enthusiasm for the eco scheme has also shown that farmers are really committed to sustainability. I therefore hope that they will register for the eco scheme again this year to further make their business operations more sustainable and strengthen biodiversity.”
Great enthusiasm
The eco scheme is part of the new CAP that came into effect for the first time last year. Farmers can register for this sustainability subsidy in addition to basic income support (the hectare premium). However, due to the great enthusiasm for the eco scheme, the fixed CAP budget for the Netherlands was exceeded by 50 million euros. In total, more than 35,500 had submitted a subsidy application.
Because European regulations do not allow an excess of the CAP budget to be supplemented with money from the national budget and because the amount of the hectare premium was guaranteed, the rates for the eco scheme were in danger of being a quarter lower than planned. That discount is now being prevented. The European Commission has given permission to compensate farmers for this setback with state aid under the temporary state aid framework due to the war in Ukraine, which has also affected agriculture. The Senate still has to approve the LNV budget, which includes the 50 million euros.
Give space
Farmers who participated in the eco scheme can receive the full compensation – which RVO previously announced – from April 1. The European compensation for 2023 is a one-off. Minister Adema is therefore still in discussions with the sector about how a deficit in the CAP budget can be prevented this year. There must be clarity about this before March 1, the moment when farmers can sign up for the eco scheme again. It is expected that with the experience of 2023, a better estimate will be made this year of the enthusiasm for the eco scheme, income support and the associated premiums.