News

On 02/06/2020, the EP Committee on Agriculture (COMAGRI) supported one of the proposals for crisis measures in the context of the coronavirus crisis in the wine, fruit, and vegetables sectors. The Commission proposal, submitted on 04/05/2020, was supported by 46 votes to 1, with 1 abstention. The Commission's second proposal of 30/04/2020 was rejected due to the insufficient assistance it offered. The motion was rejected by 36 votes to 11, with 1 abstention. COMAGRI calls for measures to be strengthened, including greater flexibility in the rules on national wine support programs and for an exceptional reinforcement of the maximum investment aid rates from 50% to 80%.
More information is available here and here.

On 03/06/2020, the European Commission published a report on the import of organic agricultural and food products into the EU in 2019. Imports of organic cereals decreased, while imports of tropical organic fruit and organic soybeans increased. The total import of organic food increased by 0.4% compared to the previous year, the current import of organic food represents about 2% of the total agricultural imports. The largest share of organic imports consists of cereals, vegetable oils, sugar, milk powder and butter (54%) and meat, fruit, vegetables, yoghurts, and honey (38%).
More information is available here.

On 02/06/2020, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the introduction of a new instrument to address structural competition issues. The consultation is open until 30/06/2020. The new competition instrument should enable the Commission to address gaps in existing competition rules and to take timely and effective action against structural cross-market competition concerns.
More information is available here.

On 27/05/2020, the European Commission published the European Union's economic recovery plan. The new package called "Next Generation EU" amounts to € 750 billion (here). Part of the EU's Next Generation Fund (NGEU) will be provided in the form of loans (€ 250 billion). The loans should be repaid by 2058 at the latest. The Commission also presented a new proposal for a Multiannual Financial Framework of € 1.1 trillion (here and here). The budget for cohesion policy, defence, administration, and research has been reduced, while for agricultural policy has been strengthened. According to the new MFF, cohesion policy should have a budget of €323 billion (compared to the € 330 billion as proposed in 2018). However, € 50 billion from the NGEU package should be earmarked for cohesion for coronavirus recovery. Under the new MFF, € 81 billion (initially € 86 billion) should be earmarked for Horizon Europe, but it should receive an additional € 13.5 billion from the NGEU. The CAP budget under the new MFF should be increased to € 333 billion (compared to € 324 billion as proposed in 2018), and a further € 15 billion should be allocated from the NGEU to strengthen the second pillar of the CAP (allocations for Member States will be calculated according to the same key as in the 2018 proposal). Of the nine additional billions under the new MFF, less than 5 billion should be earmarked for strengthening the budget for the second pillar of the CAP - rural development programs. The common agricultural policy could thus operate with a budget of € 24 billion higher than proposed by the Commission in 2018. About € 20 billion of this amount would go to support the second pillar of the CAP. In comparison with the current situation, however, will be the second pillar € 7 billion lower. The budget for the first pillar - direct payments, will be increased by only € 4 billion. The total CAP budget should therefore amount to € 348 billion. According to European media, even after the new reinforcement proposals, the total CAP budget is € 34 billion lower than the current CAP budget (calculated at 2018 prices and after deducting UK aid). In this context, the media point to the European Commission's analysis that agri-food companies should lose up to € 37 billion because of the coronavirus crisis (here). Further details of the distribution of financial support under the CAP have not yet been published, so the allocations for individual Member States and the proposed amount of the future agricultural crisis reserve are not known. The Commission is also proposing to strengthen the Fair Transition Fund, for which € 10 billion was originally earmarked, with an allocation of € 40 billion now proposed under the NGEU. The Fair Transition Fund is intended to help Member States move more quickly to a climate-neutral economy. The Commission continues to envisage the introduction of own resources, such as the possibility of taxing non-recyclable plastics, the so-called plastics tax.

On 26/05/2020, the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development discussed with the Director-General of the Commission for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) Wolfgang Burtscher on the CAP and its potential to meet the objectives of the Europe Green Deal (document available here). In order to meet the objectives of the Europe Green Deal, according to DG AGRI, some aspects of the Commission's 2018 CAP proposal need to be maintained - at least 30% of the second pillars should be allocated to Agri-environment-climate Measures (AECM) (excluding ANCs areas), eco-schemes in the first pillar should be maintained, output and result indicators should be maintained, and enhanced conditionality should be maintained. The Commission does not envisage proposing amendments to the original 2018 proposal but is ready to support concrete changes - the Commission will support the allocation of a minimum budget for eco-schemes as well as a stronger emphasis on animal welfare and antimicrobial resistance. The Commission will emphasize the inclusion of Farm to Fork and Biodiversity objectives in the national CAP Strategic Plans but will consider the different starting positions of the Member States. Following the objectives of Farm to Fork Strategy, the Commission plans to present or revise several legislative proposals, but according to Wolfgangem Burtscher, an impact assessment should be carried out.
More information is available here.