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Irish Republican Party Sinn Féin has committed to support farmers with cows without marketable milk production by introducing aid of up to €300 per cow. Sinn Féin calls on the government to adopt a new model in the 2021 budget. The total expenditure on this scheme should reach €107 million.
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On 08/10/2020, the German Presidency presented current proposals for amendments to the Council's opinion on the CAP reform. Regarding the capping of direct payments, the Council is currently discussing the possibility of voluntary capping. If the state decides to introduce capping, amounts over €100,000 will be capped. However, Member States will also be able to decide voluntarily to gradually reduce direct payments, the so-called degressivity. Germany proposes to reduce amounts between €60,000 - €75,000 by up to 25%, amounts between €75,000 and €90,000 by up to 50%, and amounts above €90,000 by up to 85%. Deduction of labour costs should also be a voluntary option for Member States. According to the current proposal, capping should apply to the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS). Regarding the definition of a real farmer, the Council is still considering the principle of voluntariness. According to the information available, Member States remain divided on whether eco-schemes should be set up on a mandatory or voluntary basis by Member States. Member States have also not yet agreed on whether (and, if so, how much) a minimum budget should be allocated for eco-schemes from the envelope for the first pillar of the CAP. The European Parliament is currently negotiating on the same topic, according to initial information, the EP could support the allocation of 30 to 35% of the envelope for the first pillar of the CAP to eco-schemes, in the Council it is more of an allocation of at least 20%. The German Presidency has proposed to allow the use of unspent funds, which could be allocated for eco-schemes, as well as for non-environmental measures. However, this proposal is criticized by the European Commission. EU Member States continue to address the setting of coupled support; according to the latest proposal from the German Presidency, the Council could support an allocation of 13 + 2% (i.e. maintaining the current limits). According to the German Presidency's proposal, the area set aside for non-productive elements should not reach 10% of agricultural land (as proposed by the Commission in the EU Biodiversity Strategy), but only 5% of arable land. According to the representatives of the DE Presidency, an agreement in the Council could be reached by the end of October 2020.
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A total of eleven non-governmental agricultural organizations from nine Member States of the European Union (IT, DK, EE, LV, LT, RO, BG, CZ, SK) adopted a common position against the mandatory capping of direct payments. In a joint statement, the organizations supported the introduction of voluntary capping, as endorsed by the European Council in July 2020, and rejected mandatory capping, which would be discriminatory for some Member States. According to the common position, the introduction of capping would limit investment and jeopardize competitiveness.

The European Parliament voted on 08/10/2020 on its own opinion on the European Climate Legal Framework (European Climate Law). During September, the European Commission confirmed that the European Climate Legal Framework should strengthen the target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 55% by 2030. However, last week Parliament approved an even stronger increase in greenhouse gas emission reductions, up to 60% by 2030 (compared to 1990). The opinion, in the form of amendments to the Commission proposal, was adopted by 392 votes to 161, with 142 abstentions. According to Parliament, the Commission should, by 31/05/2023, assess the possibilities for setting an indicative trajectory at Union level in order to achieve the set climate target for 2030 and, where appropriate, for 2040 (based on an impact assessment). The Commission should further ensure that industry is sufficiently able to undergo the transition to climate neutrality and achieve the overly ambitious targets by 2030 and 2040. Parliament also called for the Union institutions and all Member States to phase out all direct and indirect fossil fuel subsidies as soon as possible, but no later than 2025.
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European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans warned during the plenary of the European Parliament on 08/10/2020 that if immediate action is not taken against climate change, Europe will face a future without pollinators and without agriculture. According to Timmermans, farmers will now be responsible not only for food production but also for climate protection. He also stressed the need to strengthen carbon sequestration in the soil. According to Timmermans, it will be less costly for farmers to deal with the situation now than it would in the future.
More information is available here.