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Representatives of the German Treasury in recent weeks rejected the proposed increase in membership fees to the European Union budget to 1.114% of gross national income (GNP), as proposed by the European Commission; Germany also rejects the compromise proposals Finland to increase contributions to 1.03% to 1.08%. According to representatives of the German Government, Germany has so far insisted on a maximum limit of 1% of GNP. In response, several German MEPs supported opinions of the European Parliament: Norbert Lins (EPP, Chairman of the EP Committee on Agriculture), Marlene Mortler (EPP), Lena Düpont (EPP) and Christine Schneider (EPP). They supported raising the national budget to 1.3% of GNP to ensure an adequate budget for the CAP after 2020 and compensate farmers for strengthening environmental and climate protection activities.

In its proposal for the post-2020 CAP of June 2018, the European Commission states that internal (internal; intra-Member State) convergence of direct payments must be achieved by 2026 at the latest (at least 75% of the average). With regard to convergence external (external; between Member States) The Commission proposes that all Member States with direct payments below 90% of the EU average continue the process started in 2014-2020 and close 50% of the existing gap to 90%. However, according to a study by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), achieving internal convergence is a greater challenge and a major problem than achieving external convergence. WWF conducted a study in Spain, where WWF reports that the average direct payments amounts to € 145, but internal disparities reach a gap of € 60 per hectare to € 1,430 per hectare, 70% of all Spanish farmers receive payments below the Spanish average. While in the case of external convergence some Member States receive 5 times higher direct payments per hectare than other Member States, in the case of internal convergence, some farmers receive between 10 and 20 times higher direct payments than other farmers from the same country. Although, according to WWF, Spain is an extreme example, there are also significant differences in the level of direct payments within Member States in Belgium, Italy or Greece.

The European Commission has committed itself to presenting the Farm to Fork strategy, which should be part of the European Green Deal, within 100 days of taking over the mandate. The mandate should be taken over on 01/12/2019. As part of the internal process, the European Commission is still working on a Farm to Fork strategy proposal, another version of the strategy has escaped in the past week, but it is still not the final version. In the latest version available, the European Commission is strengthening its emphasis on fisheries policy, deforestation and sustainable food supply chains. The revised version also reinforces the emphasis on enhancing support for plant protein production and greater inclusion of plant diet in EU nutritional habits; stresses the need to protect pollinators; and includes prevention of soil erosion. Furthermore, the European Commission states in its updated version of the strategy that the absence of clear and coherent labelling of sustainable production in the European Union leads to confusion for consumers and to their loss of confidence in EU food systems. According to the Commission, sustainable food systems should combine economic aspects (profits, employment, food supply, taxes), social aspects (added value distribution, cultural traditions, nutrition, animal welfare), and environmental aspects (carbon footprint, water consumption, soil health, animal and plant, food loss and waste, biodiversity, toxicity).

The Farm to Fork strategy will be a central theme of the European Agricultural Conference on Market Outlook in December 2019 (10-11/12/2019) with the participation of the new Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski and Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides. A workshop for Member States to discuss the Farm to Fork strategy should be held in January 2020, followed by a public consultation, to be launched in February 2020.
More information is available here, the registration is available here.

The new European Commission is likely to present a Communication on a European Green Deal on 11/12/2019, which will become, together with another Farm to Fork strategy, a pivotal strategy for all policies across the EU. The Green Deal Communication is expected to be approved by the College of Commissioners within the first 100 days of the start of the new Commission.
More information is available here.

On 18/11/2019, the European Commission, Parliament and the Council reached an agreement on the European Union budget for 2020. The budget was set at € 168.69 billion in commitments (+ 1.5% compared to 2019) and € 153.57 billion in payments (+ 3.4% versus 2019); a total of € 1.5 billion was left to respond to unexpected events. Under the Common Agricultural Policy, the first pillar in 2020 should amount to € 44.48 billion, of which most (€ 41.5 billion) will be for direct payments. Within the second pillar budget should be € 14.7 billion in commitments and € 13.1 billion in payments. The crisis reserve will amount to € 478 million. Over 20% of the total budget for 2020 will be allocated to climate and adaptation measures; € 589.6 million (+ 5.6%) has been allocated to the LIFE Environment and Climate Change program for 2020 versus 2019). The EU Council and the European Parliament now have 14 days to formally approve the agreement; approval is expected for the Council on 25/11/2019 and for the European Parliament on 27/11/2019.