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EU Agriculture Ministers met in Brussels on 26/02/2024 for a Council of Ministers meeting to discuss proposals to reduce the bureaucratic burden on farmers. On the same day, farmers' protests took place directly in front of the EU Council building, involving delegations from BE, EC, IT and CZ. The European Commission presented to the ministers a package of simplification measures for the Common Agricultural Policy, which it published on 22/02/2024 (for more on the package, see European news of 25/02/2024). Ministers discussed how to reduce the bureaucratic burden, especially at the expense of environmental conditions and controls. They called on the European Commission to launch a review of the basic acts of the Common Agricultural Policy. The ministers said it was essential to move from short-term solutions to more straightforward and long-term solutions, which would be helped by opening up the CAP's basic acts. According to the Agriculture Ministers, the European Commission's proposals of 22/02/2024 go in the right direction, but are not yet sufficient. Efforts need to be stepped up to reduce administrative burdens, increase flexibility, simplify the procedure for adapting national strategic plans and improve coordination of controls. Ministers welcomed the proposal for an exemption from the application of GAEC 8 as well as the withdrawal of the proposal on sustainable use of pesticides, while for GAEC 6 the Council invited the Commission to review the procedures by which land can be covered to take account of regional characteristics so that farmers can benefit from greater flexibility. The Commission is expected to present guidance in April 2024. Ministers also welcomed the review of the quality assessment methodology in the area monitoring system (AMS), a revision which will take place as early as March 2024 and should reduce the number of on-farm inspections by 50%.

The European Commission, together with EU Member States and associated countries, have joined forces to secure funding for research and innovation partnerships in the areas of agroecology and animal health and welfare, under the auspices of the EU's Horizon Europe Framework Program for Research and Innovation. The projects will run over the next seven years and should focus in particular on sustainability and food systems issues. The total budget is estimated at €600 million, half of which is expected to be covered by the EU budget and the other half by the partnership members. The Partnership for Agroecology is committed to accompany farmers and all other actors in the agri-food chain in the transition towards sustainable agriculture and food systems. In line with the European Green Deal, it should lead, among other things, to help plan and implement the agricultural practices needed to minimize external inputs, increase diversification and maximize the provision of ecosystem services from agricultural activities. The Animal Health and Welfare Partnership will focus on creating a research and innovation ecosystem that will develop new methodologies and products for the prevention, detection and response to infectious animal diseases.
More information is available here.

On 28/02/2024, the European Parliament approved by a large majority the European institutions' agreement on new rules for protected geographical indications (GIs). The agreement follows a trialogue held on 24/10/2023 on the rules for protected geographical indications and other quality schemes for wines, spirits and agricultural products. The aim of the agreement is to simplify and streamline the registration process and reduce the time between the application and the actual registration of the GI. The new Regulation will introduce a single legal framework and a shortened and simplified registration procedure (merging the different rules applicable to food, wine and spirits governing the procedures and protection of GIs); increase protection for GI products used as ingredients as well as their online protection; strengthen the recognition of sustainable production practices in terms of environmental, economic and social sustainability; and strengthen the position of producer groups. The existing system of recognized producer groups, which exists in 4 Member States, will be maintained, while the other 23 Member States will be given the right to introduce a voluntary recognition system. The European Commission will continue to be solely responsible for all GI procedures - the enhanced role of EUIPO (European Intellectual Property Office) was not supported. The agreement was approved in Parliament by 520 votes to 19, with 64 abstentions.

On 22/02/2024, the European Commission presented a first proposal for a simplification package for the Common Agricultural Policy. The proposal was presented by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development to the Copa - Cogeca Presidents on 22/02/2024, followed by a presentation to the Council and a discussion by Agriculture Ministers on 26/02/2024. The European Commission has promised to present it on 01/02/2024 in response to massive protests by farmers across the European Union and in Brussels. The package contains proposals for short- and medium-term measures that the European Commission believes could be taken to reduce the administrative burden on farmers and national authorities. The European Commission will also accompany the proposal with a series of consultations. An online consultation aimed directly at farmers will be launched between March and May to help identify the main sources of their concerns and to understand the sources of administrative burdens and complexity arising from CAP rules and other EU legislation. The results of this consultation should be developed into a more detailed analysis to be published in autumn 2024. The Commission has also already launched a public consultation on the Nitrates Directive and the potential administrative burden associated with its implementation in December 2023. The consultation is open until 08/03/2023, available here. Regarding the specific measures proposed, the European Commission proposes to simplify, for example, some cross compliance requirements, but also some requirements regarding controls. In recent weeks, the Commission has already proposed to allow partial exemptions from the application of the rules of GAEC 8, and on 22/02/2024 it complemented this proposal with, among other things, a proposal to amend the rules on GAEC 1 (areas under permanent grassland). The implementation of the existing rules for GAEC 1 could lead to a loss of income for the farmers concerned, so the Commission proposes to amend the rules by mid-March to ensure that the structural changes caused by the market reorientation and the reduction in livestock numbers are considered, ensuring that farmers are not penalized in their work. The burden will also be reduced as less land will have to be converted to permanent grassland. The adjustment would be made by means of a delegated act which could be presented and adopted in March. The Commission will also review which farming practices can be used during sensitive periods in meeting the land cover obligation under GAEC 6. The Commission also proposes to simplify the methodology of certain inspections to reduce the number of visits by national administrations to farms by up to 50% and to clarify the use of the concept of force majeure and exceptional circumstances so that exceptional and unforeseeable events that cannot be foreseen do not lead to the imposition of sanctions on farmers. The European Commission plans to finalize and present a new methodology for the implementation of controls in March 2024. As part of the medium-term measures, small farms of up to 10 hectares could be exempted from cross-compliance related controls and GAECs 6, 7 and 8 could also be reviewed. Concrete proposals for these areas are not yet available and should be presented by the Commission in the next stages of the negotiations.
More information is available here.

The European institutions reached an informal agreement on carbon decarbonization certification in the early hours of 20/02/2024. The rapporteur for this report in the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development was Czech MEP Martin Hlaváček (Renew). The new rules should help determine how much carbon is being removed from the atmosphere by different activities, through an EU-wide voluntary certification framework to help achieve Europe's 2050 climate neutrality target. The Commission's original proposal suggested introducing rules for monitoring, reporting and verifying carbon removal. However, during the final trilogue, the European institutions decided to extend the scope of the framework to activities that include carbon farming types that reduce emissions from agricultural land, in addition to carbon removal, if they lead to an overall improvement in the soil carbon balance. The agreement distinguishes between four types of initiatives: permanent carbon removal (storing atmospheric or biogenic carbon for several centuries), temporary carbon storage in products with a lifetime of at least 35 years (wooden furniture), temporary carbon storage from carbon management (forest and soil restoration, wetland management), and carbon reduction from carbon farming. The agreement therefore also sets out rules for carbon farming, which consists of temporary carbon storage and emission reductions, which should be incentivized by financial rewards for farmers. Carbon farming activities should also have a positive impact on biodiversity. Temporary carbon storage from carbon farming and soil emission reduction activities must, according to the agreement, last at least five years to be certified and must not lead to speculative land purchases that would negatively affect rural communities. The Commission should then produce a report by 2026 on the feasibility of certifying activities that lead to emissions reductions other than those related to land, looking at how to reduce emissions from livestock digestion. Accounting for methane emission reductions should therefore only be considered from 2026 onwards, as is the case for manure/farmyard manure. The preliminary agreement will now be submitted to the EU Council and the European Parliament for approval, after which it can be published in the Official Journal and subsequently enter into force.
More information is available here.