Young farmers could receive an amnesty from key conditions tied to drawing down Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Scheme III (TAMS) funding under plans being considered by the European Commission.

The Commission has said it is considering allowing member states to grant young farmers funding for investments made “to bring farms up to legal standards” in draft proposal documents seen by the Irish Farmers Journal.

The move would open the door to a TAMS III grant aid allowance for young farmers who took on farms that do not meet slurry storage, shed space or other regulatory standards.

Any farms not meeting these standards are currently unable to avail of TAMS funding for these investment items.

The Commission’s plans on loosening some CAP rules come after it pledged in February’s Vision for Agriculture and Food to bring forward a simplification package for the CAP this year.

The package of proposed simplification measures is expected to be published in May but would need the agreement of MEPs and member states to enter force, as well as an update to Ireland’s CAP strategic plan.

GAEC 2 and inspections

The Commission is also considering “flexibilities” in the roll-out of Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) 2 in the upcoming simplification package having received feedback from some unnamed member states.

It is unclear the exact extent of the changes proposed, but the draft document opens the possibility to member states introducing payments for farmers implementing GAEC 2 practices, even if these conditions are the same as those already laid down in national law.

Other changes on the table include allowing member states to ensure that farmers are not subject to more than one on-the-spot CAP scheme inspection per calendar year.

However, the Commission document pours some cold water over this proposal by stating that it could prove “impossible to properly control” farms availing of different schemes and could risk more controls for smaller farms.