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Last week, Poland and Hungary rejected the adoption of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the EU's budget for the period 2021-2027 totalling over € 1.8 trillion. Both states refuse to make the disbursement of MFF funds conditional on respect for the rule of law. However, the new budget must be adopted unanimously in the Council; if this does not happen by the end of this year, a provisional budget will have to be introduced. In that case, the European Union would be guided by the expenditure ceilings set according to last year's budget, in particular by being able to 'spend' each month only an amount corresponding to a maximum of one twelfth of the expenditure for the whole of 2020. The MFF is linked to an additional budget for the EU's € 750 billion recovery plan, which would also have to be postponed. The Council has now intensified negotiations with EU Member States with a view to finding a compromise solution to the problem and avoiding the introduction of a provisional budget. The multiannual financial framework will therefore be the main topic of discussion for the Prime Ministers and Presidents of the Member States during the European Council on 10-11 / 12/2020.
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Agriculture ministers met on 16/11/2020 at the informal Council of Agriculture ministers to discuss Farm to Fork Strategy, food waste, the situation on European agricultural commodity markets, and the African swine fever. With regard to the Farm to Fork Strategy, Ministers supported the efforts to move towards more sustainable food systems, but called for an impact assessment of the implementation of the objectives of the new strategies (Farm to Fork and the EU Biodiversity Strategy). Ministers also generally supported strengthening efforts to reduce food waste and strengthening cooperation between Member States to make food waste reduction more effective. As part of the Farm to Fork Strategy, the European Commission should present binding targets for the reduction of food waste in 2022. The Czech delegation briefed the Council on a joint declaration by the Czech Republic and Poland on African swine fever. The joint declaration includes several instruments, including strengthening cross-border cooperation, strengthening the protection of pig farmers, reducing trade in the affected areas, and reducing administrative burdens. The declaration was supported by DE, EE, BG, ES, LV, GR, SI, DK, HR, and FR. According to Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, the European Commission is currently reviewing legislation related to the occurrence of African swine fever in the EU and is preparing to introduce control tools. The Commission will continue to provide the maximum possible financial support to prevent the spread and support the eradication of African swine fever in the EU. The Commission should also publish an analysis of the impact of African swine fever on the EU market. African swine fever threatens the stability of the EU market, another threat is caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. According to the ministers, therefore, the European Commission should present measures to help the affected sectors, in addition to the pork sector, it should also include beef, poultry, wine, and dairy products. Janusz Wojciechowski, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, said that the European Commission was monitoring European agricultural markets and that the second wave of coronavirus had not yet had a significant impact on these markets. However, following pressure from AT, HR, BE, CZ, GR, ES, HU, LT, RO and FR, the Commission will consider launching private storage schemes for pig meat.
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On 17/11/2020, the European Commission issued working documents for the negotiations on the CAP in the framework of trialogues between the European Commission, Parliament, and the Council. According to the working documents, the European Commission will strive to strengthen the ambitions of the CAP in the field of environmental and climate protection, focusing specially on setting the rules for cross compliance and eco-schemes. According to the European Commission, cross-compliance is a key tool for mitigating climate change, protecting biodiversity, protecting wetlands and peatlands, and enhancing animal welfare. Eco-schemes should be set up to motivate farmers to adopt more sustainable farming practices. Therefore, a sufficient CAP budget should be ensured for eco-schemes. According to the Commission, CAP funds should be distributed more fairly, and the Commission also mentions in the background documents that 80% of CAP funds go to 20% of beneficiaries. According to the Commission, the CAP will have to be linked to the Farm to Fork Strategy and the Biodiversity Strategy. The Commission is also preparing guidelines for individual Member States, which should help set up eco-schemes and CAP Strategic Plans. Recommendations will be prepared for each Member State based on an analysis of the situation in the Member States. The first draft guidelines were finalized by the Commission on 16/11/2020, at which time the guidelines were not available. A dialogue will now take place between the Commission and the Member States, based on which the guidelines will be finalized and formally adopted. In response to the submission of working documents, the European agricultural think tank Farm Europe emphasized that the European Commission had not yet submitted any impact assessment on the implementation of the objectives of the Farm to Fork and the Biodiversity Strategy. This comment was also made during the Council of Agriculture Ministers on 16/11/2020, in this context the Ministers of Agriculture of Spain and the Czech Republic drew attention to a study by the United States Department of Agriculture, according to which the implementation of the new strategies could lead to a drop in EU production by up to 12% and a significant increase in world food prices.
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Earlier last week, the President of the European Commission responded to the Greens' calls for the withdrawal of the Commission’s CAP draft by stating that she did not plan to take such a step. However, on 12/11/2020, the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, said that if the new CAP were not ambitious enough in terms of measures to protect the climate and the environment, he would consider withdrawing CAP proposals. The disunity of the European Commission and the speech by Frans Timmermans were immediately criticized by the European Parliament's largest political group, the EPP. During the Council of Ministers on 16/11/2020, agriculture ministers also criticized the speech of Timmermans, and German agriculture minister Julia Klöckner called his statement as dishonest and denying the principles of democracy. However, Germany's position is not unanimous either - support for Timmermans was expressed by the environment ministers of the eleven federal republics of Germany. In response to criticism from agriculture ministers, Janusz Wojciechowski, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, supported Ursula von der Leyen's previous statement, according to Wojciechowski, the withdrawal of CAP proposals should not even be considered. In her own response, Ursula von der Leyen said that under European law, the Commission could indeed proceed with the withdrawal of CAP proposals but reaffirmed that it was not considering doing so. However, she emphasized that the CAP must be changed so that agriculture is no longer one of the main causes of biodiversity loss in the EU. Frans Timmermans responded by saying that the current ambitions of the CAP proposals were insufficient and needed to be further strengthened. Timmermans emphasized the need to respond to climate change, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, strengthen biodiversity protection and the restoration of wetlands and peatlands, and support the shift to sustainability. According to him, modern technologies, digitization, modernization, but also precision agriculture should be supported.
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On 13/11/2020, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) published a report on Performance check for EU programme, which also focused on the functioning of the Common Agricultural Policy. The ECA concludes that the Commission's reporting of 2019 information on CAP performance presents a too positive picture and does not focus on results. The main shortcoming is that the performance indicators for the period 2014-2020 are not set based on a detailed intervention logic for the provision of financial support under the CAP. For example, direct payments to farmers have managed to reduce the volatility of their incomes, but these payments are not aimed at helping farmers to ensure a fair standard of living. In addition, CAP measures have been found to have little impact on tackling climate change. According to the ECA, greening measures had only a very small measurable impact on agricultural practices in the EU and on the improvement of the environment; according to the ECA, only 5% of agricultural land in the EU has changed positively. According to the report, 30% of CAP funds go to only 2% of beneficiaries, and CAP support to help young farmers has little impact.
More information is available here and here.