Efforts by the European Commission to limit a delay of the next CAP to just one year have the potential to throw farm payments into disarray.

Both the European Parliament and the European Council have agreed that a transition period of two years will be required if certain timelines cannot be met.

However, a senior member of the commission’s agricultural department, DG Agri, has said it is prepared to withdraw transition regulations if the other legislators insist on a two year delay. These regulations will allow farm payments to continue in the absence of a completed CAP reform.

Delay

Speaking to the parliament’s agriculture committee earlier this week, acting deputy director general of DG Agri, Michael Scannell, stressed the commission could not support a two-year delay.

“The commission‘s view is that the ambitions of the Green Deal and the importance of the recovery package require very fast, rapid implementation of the new CAP,” he said.

The ambitions of the Green Deal and the importance of the recovery package require very fast, rapid implementation of the new CAP

He reminded MEPs and the council that the withdrawal of the regulations remains an option.

MEPs expressed surprised at the commission’s position. They said there was no objection to a one-year delay, but it was unlikely that all the necessary work would be completed in time.

Concerns

Elsi Katainen, a Finnish MEP who led the committee’s work on the transitional regulations, said a two year delay allowed a year for member states to design their strategic plans and eight months for the commission to approve them.

She expressed concerns about the commission’s position, asking: “What is your solution for legislation in January [when the new CAP is due to begin]?”

Without transitional regulations, there will be no legal basis for farm payments to continue.

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