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President of the European Council Charles Michel supported in his revised negobox the Finnish proposal to introduce mandatory capping of direct payments above € 100,000 for basic income support for sustainability – capping should therefore not concern eco-schemes, coupled payments (VCS) or aid for young farmers. Capping should be mandatory; Member States could decide voluntarily to deduct up to 100% of labour costs from the total amount before the reduction. External convergence of direct payments should follow the Commission's proposal (closing 50% of the gap to 90% of the EU average), all EU Member States should contribute to external convergence. Charles Michel also proposes to increase the transfer rate between pillars of the CAP from 15% to 20% in order to allow compensation for the reduced budget of the second pillar (Member States can strengthen co-financing of the second pillar). Transfer from the second to the first pillar may be increased to 25% if the level of direct payments per hectare in the Member State concerned does not reach 90% of the EU average.
More information is available here.

One of the main requests of the European Parliament for the post-2020 MFF was the creation of new own resources of revenue for the budget. In this context, President of the European Council, Charles Michel, in his proposal for financial allocations for the Multiannual Financial Framework of 14/02/2020, proposes that "a national contributions calculated on the weight of non-recycled plastic packaging waste with a call rate of € 0.80 per kilogram" and "any revenues generated by the EU Emissions Trading System exceeding the average annual revenue per Member State generated by allowances auctioned over the period 2016-2018".
More information is available here (paragraph 139, page 53).

In recent weeks, the European Commission has announced its plan to publish the Farm to Fork strategy (reduction of pesticides, antibiotics, fertilizers; animal welfare; food labelling; reduction of plastics and plastic waste) and the Biodiversity Strategy 2030 on 31/03/2020. According to the updated schedule, both strategies could be published a week earlier, already 25/03/2020. However, the Commission states that the date is not yet confirmed, therefore further changes may occur. Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety said she would seek to set ambitious and realistic targets for reducing chemical pesticide use as part of the Farm to Fork strategy.
More information is available here.

On 13/02/2020, MEPs discussed the forthcoming Farm to Fork strategy, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Janusz Wojciechowski also participated in the discussion. Norbert Lins, chairman of the EP's Committee on Agriculture, said that it is not possible to focus on farmers alone, and that consumers must also pay attention - according to Lins, 72% of consumers demand better animal welfare or pesticide control, but only 16% of them are willing to pay more for it. Janusz Wojciechowski supported the provision of an adequate budget for the CAP in order to meet the enhanced requirements. A number of MEPs (primarily from the EP Committee on Agriculture) drew attention to the fact that farmers are now left out of the discussion on the Farm to Fork strategy and called on the Commission to strengthen cooperation with farmers; they also stressed the need to ensure an adequate budget for the CAP. Nonetheless, Dutch MEP Anja Hazekamp (GUE / NGL) pointed out that the CAP is mainly used to support large enterprises, which leads to the promotion of unsustainable practices. German MEP Martin Häusling (Greens) supported strengthening support for small farms and reducing livestock farms. Slovenian MEP Franc Bogovic (EPP) supported short supply chains. Czech MEPs Michaela Šojdrová (EPP) and Ivan David (I&D) highlighted the issue of imports from third countries and ensuring competitiveness; Martin Hlaváček (Renew) stressed that attention should be focused not only on farmers, but also on food chains and unfair subsidies.
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Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Janusz Wojciechowski said last week that the CAP must be greener. According to him, intensive livestock farming needs to be addressed to ensure policy sustainability. Wojciechowski said that, for example, 690 pigs per 100 ha of farmland were kept in the Netherlands, 452 in Belgium, and 473 in Denmark. By contrast, in Poland only 67 pigs are kept per 100 ha, in France only 43. According to the Commissioner, part of the production is now unsustainable, the problem is the concentration and intensification of production. According to Wojciechowski, it will therefore be necessary to act against intensive pig farming under the European Green Deal. Wojciechowski's position has already been rejected by the Secretary-General of Europe's largest agricultural organization, Copa and Cogeca Pekka Pesonen.
More information is available here.