Post-2020 CAP to Take into Account Luxembourg Specificities

Luxembourg's Ministry of Agriculture, Viticulture and Rural Development has reported that European Union (EU) Member States came to a "satisfactory" agreement at yesterday's Agriculture and Fisheries Council on the future common agricultural policy, taking into account national specificities.

Romain Schneider, Minister of Agriculture, Viticulture and Rural Development, participated on Tuesday in the second marathon day of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council which concluded on Wednesday morning. According to Minister Schneider, the agreement that the Member States concluded by qualified majority, with three abstentions and one vote against, "is a compromise which sufficiently takes into account the complaints and specificities of Luxembourg".

The general approach adopted by the Member States gives the Council of European Ministers a mandate to start negotiations with co-legislator the European Parliament as soon as the latter has adopted its internal position. The texts must enter into force no later than 2023.

For nearly two days, European agriculture ministers negotiated for a qualified majority on the CAP which conditions agriculture and food for 447.7 million inhabitants of 27 Member States. The CAP makes up more than 30% of the EU's annual budget.

The new post-2020 CAP will be accompanied by a strengthening of the principle of subsidiarity. Member States will have greater leeway to implement the CAP through their national strategic plans as part of the new performance model, while taking into account national specificities to meet European objectives and standards.

“For a small country like Luxembourg, maintaining flexible multi-year programmes was essential in the negotiations. Luxembourg's interests are particularly linked to the maintenance of meadows and pastures and extensive livestock farming. We have been able to maintain a certain flexibility in transposing the objectives of the new CAP to the Luxembourg multiannual action plans which protect our achievements”, explained Minister Romain Schneider.

Three of the nine main objectives assigned to the CAP relate to the environment and the climate. One of the main innovations is the establishment of the system of “eco-regimes” which remunerate the services rendered to the environment by farmers.

According to Minister Romain Schneider, the new rules of the game and agri-environmental aid ceilings are acceptable for Luxembourg: "I am satisfied that the new CAP will henceforth recognise in its regulations the concrete contributions that our farmers are already making to the protection of environment and climate, through their participation in agri-environmental programs. Concretely, this involves, for example, reducing the use of pesticides and chemical fertilisers to protect water resources, increasing conversion to organic farming, efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and ammonia emissions or the improvement of animal welfare".

The CAP is divided into two pillars. The first concerns direct aid to farmers and concentrates more than two thirds of the European budget. This aid is considered essential to ensure the viability of farms. Minister Romain Schneider assured that "the agreement concluded guarantees the maintenance of direct aid to farmers and also the 'payment for young farmers' in the first pillar in the form of a fair lump sum payment for all young people" - one of Luxembourg's main demands. Member States also found a compromise on the percentage of the first pillar dedicated to eco-schemes, the new green component of the post-2020 CAP. The agreement provides for 20% of the first pillar's budget to finance these initiatives aimed at protecting the environment and animal welfare, which go beyond regulatory standards.

The second pillar concerns rural development policy. Its budget finances a wide range of measures, including environmental protection and animal welfare, the modernisation of farms, the promotion of rural tourism, the training of farmers and the development of organic farming. EU Member States co-finance these actions with national funds: currently, in Luxembourg, the national share of the budget for the second pillar is 75%.

The conditions of access to CAP aid will also be better defined: the payment of aid is linked to compliance with certain obligations. These obligations should "help achieve the environmental objectives of the CAP”. If a farmer does not meet his / her obligations, the payments will be reduced.

The elements of the Farm-to-Fork strategy, which is one of the key initiatives of the European Green Deal and sustainable agriculture, will also be integrated into the strategic plans of the Member States.