Talks on cross compliance system

PROPOSALS by the European Commission to improve and simplify the system of cross compliance will be discussed by the Council of Agriculture Ministers in Luxembourg on Monday.

Cross Compliance, a key element of the 2003 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, means that farmers have to respect a set of standards to avoid cuts in payments from the European Union.

These cover protection of the environment, public, animal and plant health, animal welfare and the maintenance of the land in good agricultural and environmental condition.

But farmers in Ireland and in other EU member states have complained bitterly about the level of bureaucracy involved.

Agriculture and Food Minister Mary Coughlan said she is concerned about the complexities of the rules generally and the fact that these place an intolerable burden on farmers and administrators alike.

“I firmly believe that the cross compliance arrangements need to be simplified to make them more acceptable to the general farming community,” she said.

The proposed changes which Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel will present to the council of ministers are the latest stage in the commission’s ongoing efforts to simplify the policy. They aim to improve information, introduce a certain level of tolerance in minor cases of non-compliance and introduce advance notice of certain on-farm checks.