The European Commission presented a large package of measures for the agricultural sector on Wednesday, which must reduce administrative burdens and checks and respond to a better crisis response and more investment options. The measures must lead to considerable savings. European farmers must save up to around 1.58 billion euros. National governments must also benefit, with a recess of 210 million euros.
The committee also wants capitals to get more flexibility when it comes to the use of agricultural funds, for example to repair the damage of climate disasters. The measures fit in the Brussels spirit to reduce the bureaucratic hassle and to increase the competitiveness of Europe.
It has been the third so-called Omnibus since the Von der Leyen II committee, a package of measures that simplifies European regulations and streamlines legislation. Earlier, sustainability and investment legislation was pruned. A ‘Defense-Omnibus’ is planned for June, later a ‘digital omnibus’ follows. “This is just the beginning,” said Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner for Trade, about the plans on Wednesday. “Regulations are seen by more than 60 percent of companies in the EU as an obstacle to investments and 55 percent of small and medium-sized businesses regards regulatory obstacles and administrative burdens as their biggest challenge. SMEs make up 99 percent of all companies in the EU, including a large part in the agro-industry.”
The new agricultural measures must give farmers and gardeners more air. “The core of the policy is not so much in the simplification, but in the applicability for the farm,” says Christophe Hansen, European Commissioner for Agriculture, during a press conference in the Belgian capital.
Hansen quoted a study that would show that farmers spend on average seven full days a year on administration. He thinks that is too much. “I recently visited a Dutch farmer’s wife, who only grants himself one week’s vacation a year. It also seems that she spends that one week filling in forms. That must be corrected.”
Bas Eickhout, MEP for GroenLinks-PvdA, is critical: “It has become a bad habit that the committee adjusts the agricultural policy every year, instead of every seven years. This heel-on-the-branch policy is bad for our ambitions, but also madly for farmers. Clarity for the long term must be paramount.”
To make the farm more future-proof, the committee doubles the standard EU contribution for small farmers: from 1,250 euros to 2,500 euros per year. According to European Commissioner Hansen, the small farmer is the ‘backbone of the countryside’. Small farmers are also protected from certain environmental rules, while they can benefit from eco controls that reward environmentally friendly agriculture. In addition, they get easier financial support via a one -off benefit to improve the competitiveness of their company. The financing option rises to 50,000 euros per company.
The administrative burden on environmental requirements and checks are simplified and reduced across the board. If a farm is certified as organic, it will automatically meet a number of EU environmental requirements for financing. Checks will be streamlined through satellite technology. In addition, a new principle is being introduced: only one check on site per company per year.
In addition, Brussels focuses on simpler procedures for crisis management. For example, Member States may spend 3 percent of the national budget in the context of the common agricultural policy on farmers and gardeners who suffer from the consequences of natural disasters and animal diseases. Member States also receive more flexibility when completing and adjusting their agricultural policy if it is up to the committee. Among other things, the environmental conditions that apply to farmers to receive subsidies, such as pesticid -free buffer strips along ditches or the preservation of permanent grassland, are left to the Member States more.
BBB European Parliamentarian Jessika van Leeuwen is ‘satisfied’. She responds in a press release: “The committee listens to the concerns of farmers, as they became clear during protests last year. This package is a first step in the much needed simplification that the sector has been asking for for years.”
It is up to both the European Parliament and the Member States to discuss and further fill in the committee proposal. Negotiations on this are expected for the fall.
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