Whether only three of them meeting in an informal way or all gathered in the Council of the EU, the majority of the agriculture ministers of the Member States continue to plead for the maintenance of the budget of the CAP in the future Multiannual Financial Framework. On the side of the European Parliament, the new legislature confirmed the position of the previous one for a strong contribution of the Member States to the Community budget. The Commission has noted the impossibility of an agreement on the MFF by the end of the year.

October: highlights in chronology

07/10 Meeting of the German, Polish and French Ministers

08/10 Warning cry for cohesion policy and EAFRD

09/10 Commission calls to decide on the EU budget

10/10 The new legislature of the European Parliament confirms the position of the outgoing parliament

14/10 The joint declaration presented to the Agriculture and Fisheries Council

18/10 Precise Negotiating Framework Required for December Summit

28/10 Concerns of member states’ parliaments at the Helsinki meeting

30/10 No agreement on the future MFF in 2019

full note available on FE Members area 

In a nutshell:

-CAP Reform Package 

—>  The Presidency recalled that delegations to the Council in July were mostly in favor of an increased environmental and climate ambition, accompanied by sufficient funding, a reduced administrative burden for all and a sufficiently flexible agricultural policy to take into account the specificities of MS.

The Presidency therefore proposes to continue to build the green architecture of the new CAP with a view to an increased environmental and climate ambition, a common percentage or fixed amount per MS. Funding for ecological programs could be strengthened by specific amounts or percentages for MS to organize by allocating interventions among pillars.

The presidency also stressed the contribution to the climate and the environment of the CAP, as well as the commonality of this policy.

—> The majority of MS expressed their support for the principle of a single common share for environmental and climate measures on both pillars proposed by the Council Presidency. However, they added that there were still a lot of technical details to be clarified, and especially that it would be arbitrary and premature to fix now a specific part and amounts. This is mainly due to the state of play of the negotiations on the CAP budget in the next MFF, but also the work remaining to be done on the list of measures to be included in this device proposed by the Presidency.

On this second aspect, the MSs overwhelmingly proposed measures to be added to the proposed list, such as basic income support, or all or part of the aid for areas subject to natural constraints.

While the treatment of small farms as part of the cross-compliance controls and the mandatory or non-mandatory nature of the eco schemes continue to divide the delegations, most of them have expressed their support for the increased level of climate and environmental ambition within the CAP. To this wish, many delegations also associated that of financial resources with this objective, by maintaining the budget of the CAP at the level of that of the EU at 27 and at current prices.

—> Latvia presented a joint statement with Poland, Estonia and Lithuania to include liming of acid soils in the list of measures.

-Regulations on CAP transitional rules

—>  – The Finnish Presidency aims to have the first proposal on flexibility be adopted by the fast-track producer. So far indications have shown that this adoption without amendment should be possible – EP shares this point of view

– The second one – a more substantial – lays down transitional provisions for the year 2021 and it amends all 4 basic acts plus the Regulation on agriculture in the outermost regions. This one needs more discussion in Council and EP, co-legislators aim adoption for mid-2020

—>  While several delegations favored an extension of the transition period, considering that one year would be too short, other delegations called for not postponing the implementation of the new CAP beyond 2022. Several delegations also supported the joint statement submitted by Bulgaria.

—>  Bulgaria presented a joint statement with CY, CZ, PO, RO to include the possibility to apply the transitional national support under Art 37 Regulation 1307/2013 at financial levels not lower than those of 2020

—> In concludings remarks, Commissioner Hogan said that: “we could remove many of the concerns if we can get agreement on MFF and CAP reform in 2020. Transitional national aids regulation was introduced may years ago before the last reform with a phasing out schedule at the end of 2020 therefore it is consistent with the agreement made in 2013 hence not in the COM proposal. In relation to 3,9% POSEI reduction, there is no problem from EC’s point of view if this money is reinstalled. On the possibility to use the rural programs of 2014-2020 in the context of these transitional regulations and those the n+3 continue to apply, the commissioner replied that the n+3 rule continues to apply, MS extending the rural development programs will be able to continue to implement them up to the 31st of December 2024. Technical level will be able to continue the work, but would strongly advise that both of the transitional regulations are speedily implemented otherwise MS will run the risk of some financial programs and risks in rural development programs in 2021”.

According to the Governance of the energy union and climate action rules, Member States are required to establish a 10-year Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) for the period from 2021 to 2030 in order to meet the EU’s new energy and climate targets for 2030. These Plans shall cover the five dimensions of the energy union on a common template so that the European Commission can be able monitor EU wide progress (as a whole) towards achieving these targets.

The draft NECPs of the Member States were already assessed and analysed by the Commission and the Member States have until the end of 2019 to submit their final, modified NECPs accordingly.

This study aims to contribute to this discussion on the state of the draft NECPs from the perspective of the transport sector. It examines all the 28 draft NECPs from this point of view, underlining the importance of the need to make vital efforts in this area for Europe to succeed and reach its energy and climate targets. It focuses on the question whether or not the proposed measures, ambitions and tools in these draft Plans are truly able to effectively contribute to the decarbonisation of the European transport sector.

Results of these study will be discuss in the Euractiv event on November, 27th 

 October was marked as follows:

• On the EU Council side, Ministers reiterated that none of the reform dossiers could be considered “closed” to date.
• On Parliament’s side, the Conference of Presidents has given the green light for a presentation of the reports of the reform in plenary at a date to set …
• The Commission has unveiled the provisions for the transitional period.

October: highlights in chronology

08/10 Commissioner-designate’s point of view

14/10 Agri-Fish Council: nothing can be considered “closed”

16/10 Green light for CAP’s reports

23/10 A proposal for the CAP raising questions

31/10 The legislative “package” for the transition unveiled

full note available on FE Members area 

1) This month started with the WTO announcement on 2 October over the U.S-EU Airbus subsidies case. The U.S. has been given the right to request a total amount of $7.5 billion (annually) equal to 6.9 billion euro incountermeasures with respect to the European Union and some EU member states, with October 18 as the effective date of additional duties. It has to be highlighted, that the US retaliation list is heavier on additional tariffs for agriculture products than for aircraft – 25% as compared to 10%.

In this regard, Spanish, French and Italian Agriculture Ministers took the floor during this month’s Agri-Fish Council in Luxembourg (14-15 October), and voiced their concerns respectively on the damaging impact on olive oil and table olives (ES), cheeses (IT) and wine (FR), among the most affected agri-food products.

2) Key topics for the wine sector as internationalization, innovation, trade dynamics, finance, digital transformation & competitiveness were at the core of the Wine Business Forum, which was held during the Milan Wine Week (6-13 October 2019), and which gathered more than 100 winemakers, businesses and experts.

3) Winemakers in France are changing their practices in an effort to adapt to the current changing environment and climatic hazards. Labels like organic, biodynamic and the so-called “high environmental value”certifications (HVE) are gaining traction, among them, and among consumers as well.

4) In terms of wine market figures, latest forecast by DG AGRI (October 2019) show that this year the EU28 wine production will return to a normal level, after the exceptional 2018 harvest of 189 million hectoliters. Estimates indicate a total wine production for 2019/2020 at around 161 Mio hectoliters.

full note available on FE members area 

This month some interesting news that worth more than a look come from both EU & U.S. recent research results and polls.

Researchers from Cambridge University highlighted the capacity of transposons, better known as “jumping genes” to rapidly generate new traits in various crops to make harvesting more efficient and maximize yield at the same time. New gene targeting technologies are found to be key for further optimization.

Finally, in the current EU executive’s institutional transition period which will see the next Commission to be appointed by year end, a closer look should be taken at how policy and regulatory developments for biotechnology will be addressed and ultimately shaped, going beyond the legislative process. Biotechnology, and specifically new genomic techniques, will be certainly part of the EC’s dedicated Directorate’s overall strategy (Health).  Member states will play a key role in this regard.

full note available on FE members area