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Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Phil Hogan has rejected the proposed tariff system in the event of UK leaving the EU with no deal. In such a case, the UK should temporarily reduce its customs tariffs of 87 % of imported products to zero, but some agricultural commodities or cars should not be subject to these tariff reductions. Temporary tariff reductions should be valid for up to 12 months, with the aim of preventing significant price fluctuations in the market. Conversely, for the remaining 13 % of imported products, such as beef, lamb, pork, poultry and certain dairy products, customs tariffs should be increased. Commissioner Hogan, originally from Ireland, rejected the proposed system due to the fact that Ireland exports 300,000 tonnes of beef to the UK annually, representing 50 % of all Irish exports. If Ireland loses its current position on beef exports, it will also mean significant EU-wide consequences as a result of the inevitable redirection of meat trade (and other commodity) to other countries. The situation is similar in the case of cheese exports.

Last week, the UK asked for a postponement of withdrawal from the EU, asking for a delay from original 29/03/2019 to 30/06/2019. Member States have agreed to postpone the withdrawal, but have significantly reduced the deadline - Brexit should come into force either by 12/04/2019 or by 22/05/2019

EU ministers of agriculture will meet at the Council of Ministers in Brussels on 18/03/2019. The main point to discuss will be the package of CAP reform after 2020, followed by another important issue, bioeconomy. Other issues to be addressed will include information from NL on the outcome of the conference on "CAP Strategic Plans - Review of Eco-Schemes"; the decision of the Technical Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office regarding the possibility of patenting the results of classical plant breeding; outcome from meetings organized by the Commission Working Group on Water and Agriculture; and the meat market situation. Under Miscellaneous, ministers should also address the issue of coupled support (VCS).
More information is available here.

On 07/03/2019, Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă together with the Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources Günther Oettinger sent a letter to Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament, asking for at least a provisional agreement between Parliament, the Commission and the Council on the Common Agricultural Policy and the Cohesion Policy after 2020, before the European Parliament elections will take place between 23-26/05/2019. According to Dăncilă and Oettinger, achieving at least a provisional agreement on these two policies is the key to reaching an agreement on the EU MFF after 2020 in a timely manner.

Adina Ioana Vălean, Chairperson of the EP Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, condemned the decision of the agricultural coordinators of the EP from 19/02/2019, according to which the EP's CAP post 2020 reports will not be voted in plenary until the EP elections, they will only be voted on in the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. The vote in plenary should therefore be done in the newly elected European Parliament. According to Vălean, the Committee on Agriculture should consult all deadlines and schedules with the Environment Committee, given the strengthened competences of the Environment Committee for the CAP. For the decision to postpone the vote in plenary, the new Environment Committee would have to restart negotiations on its own position on the CAP after the EP elections. Vălean invited the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, to speed up the negotiations on the position in the Committee on Agriculture, so that the EP's plenary proposals could be discussed before the elections in May.

On 11/03/2019, the European Commission launched a public consultation aimed at evaluating external communication measures for the Common Agricultural Policy. The Commission operates and supports a broad CAP communication program to present the benefits of this policy, both to the general public and to farmers and other sectoral groups. The measures include informative campaigns, networking for media, conferences, fairs and publications. The public consultation should assess how well these communication measures work. The communication strategy for 2016-2020 will be included in the assessment. Contributions can be submitted until 08/04/2019.
More information is available here.