The European Court of Auditors (ECA) has called for greater use of satellite images in the next CAP.

The ECA described the EU’s Copernicus Sentinel satellites as a “potential game-changer” for CAP in a report this week.

It noted that while the satellite imagery has been used to assess area-based direct payments to farmers, member states have not been as quick to use them for environmental and climate requirements.

The ECA said some member states’ CAP-paying agencies have been using Copernicus Sentinel data and other technologies, such as geotagged photos and drones, to assess farmers’ compliance with CAP rules since 2018.

In 2019, 15 paying agencies in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Malta and Spain used the new system for some of their farm schemes

These ‘checks by monitoring’ make it possible to identify crops and monitor activities such as crop harvesting and mowing on individual parcels during the growing season.

It says the ‘checks by monitoring’ approach can reduce the cost of farm inspections, while monitoring all farmers instead of just a sample.

In 2019, 15 paying agencies in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Malta and Spain used the new system for some of their farm schemes.

Another 13 agencies in eight other EU member states are expected to use it for some farm schemes and land in 2020.

Ireland has not yet indicated to the European Commission that it will switch to the ‘checks by monitoring’ approach.

The ECA noted agencies are reluctant to use the new system because of fears the Commission would question decisions, and the effort and cost of new procedures and IT systems.