News
CAP transitional rules for 2021
Online since 01-05-2020
Agra Facts reports that the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee has agreed its position on the CAP transitional rules for 2021, rejecting any cuts on the farm policy’s budget.
Under the plan, voted remotely through unanimously by 48 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) recently, farm subsidies & rural development funding would continue unchanged during a “flexible transition period” lasting up to two years.
The German euro-deputy told his fellow Committee members that they were taking part in “a very important vote for farmers across Europe, which would ensure planning certainty, into the near future.” AGRI MEPs agreed to the Commission proposal that the transition period should last for one year starting on 1 Jan 2021, but added the flexibility for it to be extended by a further year.
The extension would be triggered automatically if the new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) & the future CAP have not been agreed by 30 October. Part of the package, comprising 27 compromise amendments covering the vast majority of the 400 amendments tabled, is a repeat of MEPs’ call for CAP funding to be maintained at the 2014-2020 level in real terms. If the new financial perspectives have not been agreed when the transition period starts, they want to see national ceilings for direct payments, rural development & sectoral support in 2021 & potentially in 2022, based on those in the EU’s 2020 budget. The Committee also repeated its call for funding for the agricultural crisis reserve from outside the CAP budget, & for access to compensation, for sharp falls in income & losses caused by adverse climatic events, animal or plant diseases or pest infestations, to be made easier.
Rapporteur Elsi Katainen (Renew Europe, FI) said that keeping the dossier “on track & on time” had been her key priority. “Farmers need predictability, stability & financial continuity and a clear horizon for the upcoming two years”, Katainen stated. The text will now be submitted to the plenary in May (13-14), before negotiations with Member States. Both the Croatian Presidency & Katainen herself are keen to start trilogues immediately after the plenary green light.
The German euro-deputy told his fellow Committee members that they were taking part in “a very important vote for farmers across Europe, which would ensure planning certainty, into the near future.” AGRI MEPs agreed to the Commission proposal that the transition period should last for one year starting on 1 Jan 2021, but added the flexibility for it to be extended by a further year.
The extension would be triggered automatically if the new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) & the future CAP have not been agreed by 30 October. Part of the package, comprising 27 compromise amendments covering the vast majority of the 400 amendments tabled, is a repeat of MEPs’ call for CAP funding to be maintained at the 2014-2020 level in real terms. If the new financial perspectives have not been agreed when the transition period starts, they want to see national ceilings for direct payments, rural development & sectoral support in 2021 & potentially in 2022, based on those in the EU’s 2020 budget. The Committee also repeated its call for funding for the agricultural crisis reserve from outside the CAP budget, & for access to compensation, for sharp falls in income & losses caused by adverse climatic events, animal or plant diseases or pest infestations, to be made easier.
Rapporteur Elsi Katainen (Renew Europe, FI) said that keeping the dossier “on track & on time” had been her key priority. “Farmers need predictability, stability & financial continuity and a clear horizon for the upcoming two years”, Katainen stated. The text will now be submitted to the plenary in May (13-14), before negotiations with Member States. Both the Croatian Presidency & Katainen herself are keen to start trilogues immediately after the plenary green light.