News

Last week, European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans reiterated that the new CAP must reflect the objectives of the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork strategy. Timmermans said the Commission could rework the proposals if necessary, but that the move was not yet up to date. Timmermans said that to ensure the strengthening of ambitions in the field of climate and environmental protection of the CAP, decisions on the shape of the future CAP should not be left to EU agriculture ministers and "old decision-making structures", the Commission should be given the right to intervene if ambitions would not be sufficiently strengthened.
More information is available here.

On 25/01/2021, the EP Committee on Budgetary Control discussed a new Study on the largest 50 beneficiaries in each EU Member State of CAP and cohesion funds. The study was prepared on the initiative of Committee Chair Monika Hohlmeier (EPP, DE). Monika Hohlmeier emphasized in the introduction that it is necessary to identify the final real beneficiaries of EU subsidies, the names of the real beneficiaries should be known, not only the names of the companies that applied for support (direct beneficiaries). According to Hohlmeier, at present the European institutions do not have an overview of who the EU budget goes to, and it is therefore not possible to control how these funds are spent. The direct beneficiary may be, for example, an agricultural holding, but the final beneficiary is the beneficial owner of the direct beneficiary, who has more than 25% ownership. The Committee also discussed the possibility of setting up a single Europe-wide reporting system that would gather information on the final recipients of European grants. This European reporting system should include not only the specific identification number of the final beneficiary, but also his date of birth, to avoid errors. During the meeting, the representative of DG AGRI supported the collection of information on final beneficiaries for audit and control purposes, stressing that Member States should be required to publish national lists of final beneficiaries.
The recording of the meeting can be viewed here.

Part of the MEPs of the largest political faction of the EPP - the Group of the European People's Party from the EP Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) called for the creation of a new control mechanism to strengthen controls and reporting on fraudulent use of CAP funds. Tomáš Zdechovský (EPP, CZ) stated that the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) has in the past detected several fraudulent uses of EU funds from the CAP ((Recently, for example in Slovakia - checks on whether the subsidy applicant handles land in accordance with the law are not sufficient in Slovakia according to OLAF, OLAF estimates that SK paid out up to EUR 1 million in error in 2013-2019). According to Zdechovský, however, the national authorities do not act to monitor and prevent fraudulent use of funds, so it is necessary to create a new body at the EU level that would oversee the use of CAP funds. According to CONT Chair Monika Hohlmeier (EPP, DE), the new mechanism should also address complaints about the fraudulent use of CAP funds, a new tool for small and medium-sized farmers in the fight against agricultural oligarchs. The creation of a new mechanism was also supported by the Slovak MEP Ivan Štefanec (EPP), according to which the new mechanism will help protect European taxpayers.
More information is available here and here.

On 25/01/2021, the Commission launched feedback on a new EU forestry strategy. Under the Green Deal, the initiative aims to develop a forestry strategy that contribute to biodiversity, climate goals & secure livelihoods, reduce natural disasters, secure jobs, and promote the circular economy. The consultation is open until 19/04/2021, available here.

The European Parliament's Committees on Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI) and on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (COMENVI) discussed a draft common position on the Farm to Fork strategy on 25/01/2021. The COMENVI rapporteur, Anja Hazekamp (GUE / NGL, NL), emphasized that intensive industrial livestock farming has negative effects on the environment and human health, and that industrial production should not be further supported from EU funds. This position was also supported during the discussion by Tilly Metz (Greens, LU) and Sarah Wiener (Greens, AT), who called for a reversal of the trend of concentration and specialization in agriculture and food. Hazekamp also supported the strengthening of protein crop production in the EU and the move towards a more plant-based diet. The COMAGRI rapporteur, Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, IT) on organic farming emphasized that there must be a balance between ecological and economic interest, there must be a balance between supply and demand. In the discussion, MEPs then called for an impact assessment of the Farm to Fork strategy, to reflect on the achievements and commitments of farmers to date in setting F2F targets, and to introduce nutrient profiles and address misuse of health and nutrition claims; however, there was also a refusal to label the nutritional value of food using the NutriScore system and criticism of a possible weakening of the competitiveness of EU agriculture. MEP Ivan David (I&D, CZ) criticized the Commission for setting high production standards for European farmers, while products from third countries are imported into the EU, where production standards are significantly lower. The COMAGRI and COMENVI committees will discuss the opinion on the F2F again on 04/02/2021, amendments to the draft opinion under discussion may be tabled by MEPs by 02/02/2021.
The recording of the meeting can be viewed here.