Latest news with #GoodAgriculturalandEnvironmentalConditions
Euractiv
16-07-2025
- Business
- Euractiv
EU farm subsidies slashed in new long-term budget plan
The EU's landmark farming subsidies programme, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), is set to shrink by nearly 30% in real terms under the Commission's proposed EU long-term budget for 2028-2034, unveiled Wednesday. The CAP budget for the next spending period will be €300 billion, down from the current 2021-2027 budget of €387 billion. Adjusted to 2025 real prices, this represents a reduction of roughly 30%. Speaking at the European Parliament, EU Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen said the amount would be ringfenced – meaning it cannot be reallocated to other policy needs. This will encompass area-based payments, as well as other types of compensation, including environmental incentives, investments, and support for young farmers, he added. Hansen described the proposal as a 'good outcome for agriculture and our farmers.' Budget cuts are not the only major change. The CAP will no longer be a standalone fund. Instead, it will be merged into a single mega-fund alongside cohesion and rural development spending, to be managed at the national level. 'Agriculture will be strengthened,' European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a separate press conference, noting that in addition to the ringfenced budget, more member states could reallocate extra resources through the National Regional Partnerships, the single fund for cohesion, fisheries, agriculture and rural areas (€865 billion in total). The two-pillar structure, in place since 1999 and split between direct support for farmers and rural development, will also cease to exist from 2028, according to the proposal. There will be 'one policy and one set of measures', said Hansen, adding that this would be the end to 'limitations' to money transfers between pillars. But not all lawmakers were convinced. MEP Herbert Dorfmann, the European People's Parliament's (EPP) coordinator for agriculture, rejected Hansen's reassurances that farmers would not be worse off. 'Don't try sell us to as a success figure," he said, estimating a 25% decrease. Socialist MEPs also called for clarification. 'Where is the real increase?' asked Dario Nardella, S&D group coordinator on agriculture. What's new As previously reported, Hansen is following through on his pledge to re-think the distribution of area-based payments by reinforcing capping and degressivity mechanisms. He said the changes would allow for 'better targeted' payments, especially for those who need it the most, such as young farmers. Moreover, the minimum amount of direct payments for young farmers will increase from 3% to 6%. He said the new proposal would also improve the definition of 'active' farmer and introduce a method to better account for inflation. Additionally, a new 'farm relief service' will make it easier for farmers to take time off. What's gone Hansen announced the scrapping of the current green conditions attached to direct payments depended – the Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAECs). Instead, member states should define their own minimum sustainable practices. Environmental incentives, known as eco-schemes, are also set for a shake-up. These will be merged into the agri-environmental and climate measures (AECMs), which remain voluntary and require co-financing from member states. This story was updated.
Agriland
26-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
Heydon downplays GAEC 2 CAP flexibility for Irish farmers
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has moved to downplay the importance to Irish farmers of the European Commission's decision to provide flexibility around the Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC), specifically GAEC 2. Minister Heydon told Agriland that the financial implication of the standard, which may impact farmers in some member states, 'isn't the case in Ireland'. GAEC 2 is the conditionality standard of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) related to the protection of peatlands and wetlands. It formally entered into force in early May. Earlier this month, the commission announced a raft of measures to simplify the current 2023-2027 CAP, including an allowance for member states to include disadvantages to farmers arising from the conditionality standard to be incorporated into calculations for payments for eco-schemes and agri-environmental measures. However, the minister had repeatedly said that the enforcement of GAEC 2 in Ireland will not change how Irish farmers farm day-to-day. For that reason, he indicated, the flexibility around the conditionality standard would not necessarily be of benefit to Irish farmers. He told Agriland: 'Whether [the GAEC 2 flexibility] will make a material difference to farmers' day-to-day lives, I'm not convinced of that. '[There] may be some flexibility around eco-schemes…in other countries where there's a financial implication. That isn't the case in Ireland. 'Farmers continue to be able to farm as they have done on a day-to-day basis under GAEC 2, so letters that those farmers received…still stand. Farmers don't have anything to fear from GAEC 2. It does not change their day-to-day activity,' Minister Heydon said. 'There won't be a raft of farmers who are impacted or fined as a result of any of the outcomes of GAEC 2,' he added. The minister expressed similar sentiments in response to a parliamentary question from Labour Party TD Robert O'Donoghue, who asked the minister to outline his position on the matter. The minister told O'Donoghue: 'It is important to note two points regarding the possibility of providing specific support measures under the [CAP Strategic Plan] for GAEC 2 requirements. First, Ireland's CAP strategic plan funding is already fully committed under the existing schemes and no new funding is available as part of the simplification proposals. 'Second, the GAEC 2 standard for Ireland, as recently introduced, is based on existing national legislation and usual farming practices,' he added.
Agriland
21-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
Department called on to ‘maximise' CAP simplification measures
While debate is ongoing on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post-2027, there are also calls for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to maximise the simplification of the current CAP. Last week, the European Commission announced a package of measures to simplify the current CAP, with the stated aim of cutting down on bureaucracy for farmers and member states. The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) is calling on the department to take full availability of the flexibility on offer from the commission, and to 'learn from the lessons of the past'. IFA president Francie Gorman said: 'There are a series of proposals within this package…that we need to secure to reduce some of the hardship and complexity for farmers. One of the areas where flexibility has been provided is in the area of the Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAECs), including GAEC 2, which is the conditionality standard related to protection of peatlands and wetlands. The IFA had called for GAEC 2 to be removed from conditionality. Gorman said: 'We wanted an incentivised approach taken, with greater credit afforded to existing on-farm action, national and EU legislation, and agri-environment scheme requirements toward the protection of peatlands and wetlands.' He added: 'With the simplification process, while the GAEC standard remains, opportunity [and] flexibility is now provided to members states to satisfy GAEC 2 requirements. 'This will be without the need for additional practices for farmers, and for an incentivised approach, by removing baseline requirements from eco-schemes [and] agri-environmental schemes, to compensate beneficiaries for any cost [or] lost productivity associated with its compliance. 'It is imperative that the department continue to push for GAEC 2 to be removed. In addition, they should swiftly introduce a dedicated…intervention to compensate farmers for the costs incurred and income foregone in relation to implementing some or all of the GAEC 2 requirements, and investigate if the same can be replicated for those on designated lands, given false promises of the past,' the IFA president said. Gorman noted that the measures announced by the commission last week represent the second 'corrective package' from the commission on CAP in just over a year. 'This fact should serve as a lesson for the future and shape our discussions. Farmers need policies that are coherent, consistent, meaningful, and implementable, with greater farmer input throughout, but particularly in design stage. 'These principles must apply not only within the CAP but across wider and all EU policies that impact agriculture.' However, Gorman added: 'Future CAP simplification efforts must not undermine the common nature of the CAP or open the door to uncontrolled renationalisation. That would mark the end of CAP as we know it.' CAP simplification Gorman's views on GAEC 2 are shared by Irish MEP Michael McNamara, who has called on the government here to 'formally exclude' GAEC 2 from the baseline conditions of eco-schemes and agri-environment commitments. 'This change gives the government flexibility to exclude GAEC 2 and fairly compensate farmers managing wetlands and peatlands, who often face higher costs and income loss,' McNamara said. The independent TD added: 'The commission allowing member states to remove the measure from the baseline will mean less regulatory pressure on farmers managing these lands, while making CAP payments more accessible.' 'This change is a direct result of persistent pressure from farmers and their representatives across Europe. The Irish government must now respond quickly and adjust our CAP implementation to make use of this flexibility,' McNamara said.
