Commission to take steps to lessen admin burden on farmers
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland, Czeslaw Siekierski, Chair of European Ministers of Agriculture and Belgium's Vice-Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture, David Clarinval, Hungarian State Secretary for Agriculture and Rural Development, Zsolt Feldman, attend a meeting with European Representatives of Young Farmers as part of an invitation by the Belgian Presidency and the European Commission at the EU Council building in Brussels, on February 26, 2024. Picture: John Thys/AFP via Getty Images.
Proposals have been put forward at European level to reduce the administrative burden on farmers.
The Belgian Presidency and the Commission presented proposals on ways to address the current concerns of farmers in the short and medium-term at Monday's EU Council for Agriculture Ministers. These proposals include a review of some of the conditionality associated with Basic Income Support payments, rationalisation of member state controls and increased flexibility for Farmers who make genuine errors in their applications.
Speaking at the council, Minister McConalogue said: “This Council takes place against the background of farmer protests across Europe. These farmers are looking to the Council to respond to their concerns now. The Common Agricultural Policy is part of the constitutional framework of the European Union because the authors of the Treaties recognised the critical importance of food security in Europe.
"The Council and the Commission must work quickly now to make sure that the CAP can achieve its food security and environmental objectives in a way that is simple and practical for farmers and administrations.”
The Minister also emphasised the need to ensure that the Common Agricultural Policy maintained its position at the heart of the European Union.
“The current CAP is asking farmers to do more and more for the environment, but this has not been reflected in an increased CAP budget. If we are to fully respect the role of farmers as food producers and as stewards of the environment, this must be reflected in a strengthened CAP budget in the next Multi-Annual Financial framework," he said.
However, the proposals have not been as “meaningless to the point of insult” by one of Ireland's major farm organisations.
ICMSA president Denis Drennan said they would not result in any improvement for Irish farmers in 2024 or, indeed, any year thereafter.
“The is a ‘Rehash and Re-announce’ stunt where the Commission proposes to pick a few minor regulations that have no impact on the ground, repeat the already announced consultation on the Nitrates Directive that is likely to take a number of years to complete, suggested up to a 50% reduction in farm inspections while maintaining 100% checks under AMS - so making life easier for the Department inspector without any benefit to the farmers," he said.
"Meanwhile, there are no details given on Force Majeure and the definition of ‘exceptional circumstances’. Finally, they are sending out a survey to farmers on what the issues are – as if we didn’t already know.”
Mr Drennan said that there is no need for a survey as the issues are now crystal-clear: “We have regulation after regulation on a more-or-less continuous basis, while the funding under CAP becomes less and less relevant by the day due to inflation and convergence."
