The targeted reform of the CAP and the steps backwards on environmental commitments

The European Council gave the green light to the targeted reform of the CAP, granting farmers flexibility and exemptions from environmental obligations.

• The targeted reform of the CAP is definitive and responds to the protests of European farmers.
• The Council approved exemptions from environmental measures that favored soil and biodiversity.
• For Confagricoltura the reform is a great result, while for environmentalists it is a step backwards on nature and climate.

The final green light for the project arrived on May 13th targeted reform of Common agricultural policy (Pac).The member countries of the European Union gathered in Advise they voted in favor (with the exception of Germany which abstained) of some changes to the CAP in force from 2023 and valid until 2027.The reform comes very quickly - two months - following one proposal from the European Commission to respond to farmers' protests at the beginning of the year with the aim of "simplification, a reduction in administrative burdens and greater flexibility in respecting certain environmental conditionalities".

“We have listened to our farmers and acted quickly to address their concerns at this time when they face many challenges,” he said David Clarinval, Belgian agriculture minister and rotating president of the EU.“The targeted review of the rules strikes the right balance between ensuring more flexibility for farmers and Member States and reducing administrative burdens, while maintaining a high level of environmental ambition in the common agricultural policy.”

Targeted reform of the CAP:what changes for farmers and Member States

The targeted reform of the CAP concerns some points of the regulation on national strategic plans and financing for farmers, as well as on the management and monitoring of the CAP.In particular, some of the good agricultural and environmental conditions (BCAA), a set of nine rules that benefit the environment and the climate called, in fact, "conditionality" for the connection between the compliance with the requirements by farmers and the economic support provided to them.

Essentially, farmers will be able to operate a crop diversification instead of rotation, the latter is more beneficial for the soil but more costly;he comes eliminated the'obligation to keep a minimum share of arable land fallow which was designed to benefit the soil and biodiversity;Greater flexibility is granted to Member States regarding periods and practices for protection of soil;Member States are given the opportunity to do so two changes per year (instead of one) to the national strategic plans for the application of the CAP;the small farms of less than 10 hectares come exempt from controls and sanctions relating to compliance with cross-compliance requirements.

Steps back on those points which, at the time of the approval of the CAP in 2021, had made the greener common agricultural policy, with more ambitious environmental targets and strengthened conditionality in line with the European green deal.

Lollobrigida and Confagricoltura satisfied with the reform

“Bureaucracy decreases, flexibility increases and agriculture returns to the center of the European agenda – the Minister of Agriculture wrote on social media Francesco Lollobrigida – an important result, also obtained thanks to Italy's firm position.Now, together, let's change once and for all:fewer crazy rules masked in green by the buildings of Brussels, more strategy for agriculture that is a pillar on which the Europe of the future is founded".

“The approval by the EU Council of the partial revision of the CAP is a great result for agricultural businesses which provides an important acceleration towards an incisive simplification, reducing constraints on production activity – he declared Massimiliano Giansanti, president of Confagricoltura.

Let's change Agriculture:“The progress made in the last 25 years on nature and climate has been nullified”

The environmentalist coalition has a contrary opinion Let's change Agriculture according to which “the European Commission has succumbed to the false narrative that opposes the environment to agriculture" and which had defined the reform proposals “not a simplification, but an attack on the future that makes our agriculture less resilient in the face of global environmental challenges and that undermines the steps forward in favor of nature and climate protection made in the last twenty-five years".Environmentalists also underlined the antidemocratic and unjustified character of the emergency procedure which did not include an impact assessment or a discussion with civil society.

“There is an urgent need for an expanded discussion on this topic which cannot be limited to agricultural organizations alone, because the future of agri-food systems affects all citizens and not just farmers. This package of reforms will not only set the CAP back by more than 25 years, but will damage in particular all those agricultural companies that have convincedly undertaken the path of agroecology and will make the entire agricultural system even more vulnerable to the effects of the loss of biodiversity and the crisis climate".

“Scrapping the last remaining environmental protection measures will not save farmers and will make everyone more vulnerable to increasingly frequent extreme climate events – he said Federica Ferrario, by Greenpeace Italy – This vote shatters the hope that the EU's agricultural policyAnd can protect the environment, farmers and the public interest”. 

The targeted reform of the CAP will be retroactive from January 2024 and it will be valid until 2027.