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On 23/03/2020, Norbert Lins, the chair of the Parliament’s agriculture committee, sent a letter to EU agriculture commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski and Croatia’s farm minister Marija Vučković requesting the establishment of a contingency plan for the common agricultural policy. Lins welcomed the European Commission's decision to postpone the deadline for applications for direct payments until mid-June 2020, but stressed that more measures would have to be put in place to ensure the functioning of the agricultural sector during the crisis caused by the spread of coronavirus. The new contingency plan should cover payment deadlines, on-farm inspections as well as aid applications. Member States should be allowed maximum flexibility, and all CAP processes should be simplified. Until 31/12/2020, according to Lins, general exemptions from the implementation of the CAP measures should be allowed to protect European agriculture and rural areas. The Commission has also been called on to provide so-called green lanes to allow the smooth transport of food at the borders. Furthermore, according to Lins, the Commission should ensure free movement of people in the context of the coming season, the free movement of workers being crucial for agriculture - especially in the fruit and vegetables sector. In addition, the Commission should provide specific support for food storage.
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The European Parliament sought to reach an agreement on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy until the summer break, the vote in the European Parliament plenary was due to take place in June or July 2020. But German MEP Peter Jahr (EPP), the rapporteur for the CAP Strategic Plans - a major part of the legislative package, expressed his doubts over Coronavirus outbreak in the EU. According to Jahr, Parliament will continue to try to meet the deadline, but many negotiations have had to be cancelled and replaced by videoconferences. According to him, the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development is ready to make progress in the discussions on the CAP, but many questions are still awaiting the EP's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. Jahr also stressed that the current priority is to reach agreement on the CAP's Multiannual Financial Framework, in addition to addressing the coronavirus crisis.
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Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Janusz Wojciechowski said last week in an interview for Euractiv that the European Green Deal remains a key priority of the European Commission. At present, the European Commission is busy dealing with the coronavirus crisis, but the Green Deal remains the number one priority for future Commission activities. The Commissioner said that, given the ongoing crisis, the rules of the CAP should be simplified and strengthened, and market measures, including public intervention, could be introduced in the event of serious market disruption. The current crisis, however, should not significantly affect the adoption of rules for the transitional period of the CAP; Wojciechowski said in this context, that a rapid agreement on the CAP will be crucial. However, even now the European Commission will not abandon the need to strengthen the environmental aspects of the CAP.
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Last week, the European People's Party called for a postponement of the Farm to Fork Strategy in the context of the current coronavirus pandemic, at least until autumn 2020. According to Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, IT), agriculture is currently experiencing the biggest crisis in decades, farmers will have to deal with completely new unforeseen situations and consequences. Accordingly, according to EPP, the Farm to Fork Strategy should be postponed to allow the sector time to deal with the current situation and to allow the Farm to Fork Strategy to be properly discussed. Postponement is also requested by the ECR political faction, including Czech MEP Alexander Vondra. Vondra stressed the need to maintain a pragmatic approach in the current situation and to target funding to address the effects of coronavirus pandemic. Similarly, Czech MEP Jan Zahradil (ECR) stressed that the European Commission's green plans are too ambitious and costly in the current situation.
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Last week, the European Commission published an assessment of the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy on biodiversity, which was prepared for the European Commission by the Alliance Environment. Among other things, the focus was on direct payments - i.e. the link between direct payments and the intensification of agriculture. According to the assessment, intensive agriculture is one of the main causes of biodiversity decline. Although academic literature suggests that direct payments could allow farms to boost investment and thus support the development of intensive agriculture, the study failed to find evidence of whether this actually happened in practice or not. The study also states that coupled payments (VCS) should bear the greatest risks of biodiversity decline, but even in this case the link between the payment of VCS payments and the intensification of agriculture could not be demonstrated.
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