The MEP heading up the European Parliament’s side of negotiations on the next CAP has said that he plans on pushing back against moves to redistribute the largest CAP income support payments.

The European Commission plans on introducing a new system of “degressivity” that would clawback income support payments above €20,000 for redistribution and place a hard limit on these income supports of €100,000.

MEP Norbert Lins warned that farms spanning thousands of hectares in his country of Germany would simply split farms on paper to circumvent the attempt at redistribution.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I’m really sceptical when it comes to mandatory capping, but I’m more sceptical when it comes to degressivity,” Lins told a meeting in Mullingar last Thursday. “What will happen in the eastern part of Germany is clear if we went for mandatory capping, they will split all their farms.” The MEP stated that his concerns with the Commission’s capping and degressivity plans are that they would hit “younger” and “professional” farmers farming large areas, mostly in former Communist countries across eastern EU countries.