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On 08/10/2019 the Polish Commissioner-designate for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski successfully passed the second round of the public hearing in the European Parliament, to which he was invited after the unsatisfactory outcome of the first round. Wojciechowski had to answer several questions in writing before the second hearing, one of which also concerned land seizure, capping and degressivity of direct payments. Wojciechowski said that the Commission proposal for a gradual reduction of direct payments from EUR 60,000 and for capping of payments above EUR 100,000 is considered an acceptable proposal, according to which the data were designed to bring about a real change in the distribution of income support. Currently, around 30,000 farms receive aid in excess of EUR 100,000 (less than 0.5% of supported entities receive more than 15% of direct aid). According to Wojciechowski, upward adjustment of these thresholds would significantly reduce the effectiveness of the mechanism and call into question its importance. Member States will also be obliged to target aid to those who really need it, i.e. to genuine farmers or, in other words, to those whose livelihoods depend primarily on farming activities. In a public hearing, Wojciechowski stated that farmers must be competitive; an adequate budget must be ensured for the CAP; and the CAP must be simplified. Moreover, according to Wojciechowski, imports from third countries should meet all the requirements that European production must meet. In response to a possible revision of the proposal put forward by the European Commission in June 2018, he stated that its main concern was not to reopen this proposal, but would not prevent its possible modification if the European Parliament had adequate incentives to do so. MEPs recommended the Commissioner-designate, and should finally be confirmed at the European Parliament plenary session in the week after 21/10/2019. Wojciechowski is now working on his cabinet - according to initial information, the head of the cabinet should be Maciej Golubiewsky, a Polish representative at the Consulate General in New York. The Deputy Head of Cabinet should become the French representative from the European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture (DG AGRI), followed by Polish candidates Magdalena Majerczyk, King Wisniewska-Danek and Anna Chuchla.

The Ministers of Agriculture of the Member States will meet at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Luxembourg on 14-15/10/2019. Ministers will discuss in particular forestry issues (new post-2020 strategies and the EC Communication on deforestation). Within the framework of forestry points, the CZ delegation will present a statement of the Ministers of Agriculture of the V4+ countries on sustainable forestry, which was adopted at the meeting of Ministers of Agriculture held on 04/10/2019 in Prague. Ministers will further assess the state of play of the CAP reform after 2020 and receive up-to-date information on the situation on commodity markets. On other matters, the ministers will discuss the current situation in the case of African swine fever, where the CZ delegation will present a declaration, which was also adopted at the meeting of V4+ agriculture ministers. Last but not least, ministers will hear information on the ministerial conference on bioeconomy, addressing the occurrence of wolves in the EU, food safety and fisheries.

The Ministers of Agriculture of France, Germany and Poland met on 07/10/2019 to discuss the Common Agricultural Policy. According to them, the CAP must remain one of the key European policies, ensuring adequate funding to help meet the environmental and climate objectives and to ensure the economic viability of farms and rural areas. The CAP must be a market-oriented policy, but imports from third countries should meet the requirements of EU production. According to FR, DE and PL, a key aspect of rural development should be to support the development of small and family farms.

The Committees of the European Parliament for Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI) and of the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (COMENVI) discuss internally the way forward for an opinion on the CAP Strategic Plans. According to COMAGRI chairman Norbert Lins (EPP, DE), the most discussed topics are likely to be eco-schemes (climate and environmental schemes). According to Lins, both committees are able to reach a compromise on carbon storage in the soil, but according to Lins, the compromise on biodiversity will be among the most complicated. According to COMENVI, CAP objectives should no longer include the production of biofuels, the emphasis on soil quality should be strengthened, the reduction of pesticide use should be promoted, and the decline in biodiversity should be stopped. Lins said he intends to discuss all COMENVI proposals. The future of the EP opinions on the CAP Strategic Plans has not yet been decided, according to information from Europe's largest agricultural organization, Copa and Cogeca, will not be decided before November 2019.

Frans Timmermans, candidate for the post of Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, who should be responsible for the implementation of the European Green Deal, attended a public hearing in the European Parliament on 08/10/2019. He confirmed the commitment of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to submit a proposal for a climate package aimed at achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 within 100 days of taking up the mandates (which should be 01/11/2019). By 2030, emissions should be reduced by at least 50%, preferably 55%, and an ambitious biodiversity strategy with targets for 2030 should also be presented. Timmermans says European directives and regulations should be revised environment and climate devote. Copa and Cogeca, Europe's largest agricultural organization, sent a letter to Timmermans in response to the Commission's commitments on carbon neutrality. According to Copa and Cogeca, farmers are always the first to feel the effects of climate change and have to face the rising costs of adapting and mitigating climate change. In the transition to a carbon-neutral economy, Copa and Cogeca said it will be essential to propose sustainable policies and programs that will be available to farmers and cooperatives throughout the transition, recognizing the importance of existing instruments. In addition, the European Green Agreement should include a new forest strategy.