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Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, who will be responsible for the implementation of the European Green Deal, which includes the Farm-to-Fork strategy, said last week that the EU Common Agricultural Policy needs a new direction to be able to meet new European environmental commitments. According to Timmermans, farmers must play a key role in this process, attention should be focused on the use of pesticides and endocrine disruptors, Member States should include support for environmentally friendly agriculture in their Strategic Plans, and attention must also be also paid to forest regeneration. Timmermans stressed the sustainability of agricultural policy, including the context of used feed for livestock.

Croatia will take over the Presidency of the Council after Finland from January 2020. Croatian Minister of Agriculture Marija Vučković said last week that she hopes that Finland will be able to reach an agreement in the Council of the European Union on as many articles of the proposal for the CAP after 2020 as possible; Croatia could try to reach a general agreement if an agreement is reached on the Multiannual Financial Framework post-2020 (MFF). Mrs Vučković also foresees that, during the Finnish Presidency, agreement will be reached within the EU Member States on the first part of the Commission proposal for a transitional period, namely the part governing transfers between pillars. The second part of the Commission proposal for a transitional period on the financial aspects could then be reached under the Croatian Presidency. Croatia is also more positive about Finland's proposal for a single allocation of climate and environmental measures from the overall CAP envelope (refusing to allocate these measures separately in the first and second pillars), according to HR this could be the first step towards simplification of the whole system of 'greening' the CAP. However, Croatia will not support the Commission's proposal to reduce the difference in the level of direct payments per hectare paid to individual EU countries (external convergence), as it would negatively impact Croatia, the sixth highest-paying EU country, on average around EUR 350 per hectare. According to Vučković, a reduction in favour of Member States where direct payments are below 90% of the EU average would jeopardize the viability of the Croatian agricultural sector.

The European think-tank Farm Europe organized a regular conference called Global Food Forum on 02-03/12/2019. A number of MEPs and NGO representatives attended the conference. Dacian Ciolos, Romanian MEP and President of the European Parliament's third largest political group, Renew Europe, said he was interested in being heavily involved in the post-2020 CAP negotiations, Italian MEP Paolo de Castro (S&D) and FNSEA President Christiane Lambert stressed the need to ensure an adequate budget for the CAP. Strengthening environmental and climate protection requirements cannot be met if the CAP budget is reduced. Farm Europe President Yves Madre called for a sufficiently stable economic working framework to allow farmers to better face market volatility and price fluctuations. According to Madre, the Common Agricultural Policy should be set up to operate for 10 to 15 years in order to allow farmers to plan their agricultural activities in the longer term.

Representatives of non-governmental agricultural organizations from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in a joint letter to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Council Charles Michel, and President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, called for external convergence of direct payments by 2027. A total of nine organizations stated in the letter that the current situation as regards the level of direct payments per hectare in each Member State is the result of a misinterpretation of the provisions of the Treaty of Accession to the European Union. Since LV, LT and EE joined the EU in 2004, these countries have received the lowest direct payments per hectare, currently around 54-60% of the EU average. According to representatives of LV, LT and EE, fairness in the payment of direct payments is not ensured and it is therefore essential that the European institutions address this problem. A common argument of opponents of external convergence is that in some EU Member States production costs are lower than in others, and therefore a different level of direct payments is justified. According to LV, LT and EE organizations, however, production costs in the EE are 129% of the EU average, in LV 113%, and in the LT 112% of the EU average.

On 05/12/2019, the European Court of Auditors issued a press release & audit aimed at assessing the system of measures to stabilize farmers' incomes. According to the European Court of Auditors (ECA), these instruments 'have only partially achieved their objectives, they are under-used and uneven. In addition, some exceptional measures are not properly targeted and may lead to disproportionate compensation payments.' The ECA's auditors focused in particular on EU support for insurance and exceptional measures for the fruit and vegetables sector introduced after the 2014 Russian sanctions. According to the audit results, 'most of the EUR 2.6 billion that the EU has allocated in its budget to help farmers hedge against price volatility and production losses has had limited impact. Funds reach only a very small proportion of farmers, with only 10% of those insured doing so with EU support. Most farmers do not even consider risk mitigation as they expect to receive considerable public support in the event of a crisis. EU support for insurance is not directed to those who really need it.' According to the ECA, most support for insurance goes to Italy and France, particularly to the wine sector. Due to the lack of interest among other Member States and the much targeted granting of aid for wine production, the insured capital in these two Member States can reach up to € 115,000 per hectare.
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