Agriculture and Fisheries Council, Brussels, 18 March

Agriculture Ministers from EU Member States meet today in Brussels to discuss main challenges in the field.

RRA Correspondent in Brussels, Amalia Bojescu: Romania’s EU Council Presidency will inform EU Agriculture Ministers on progress made in the field of Common Agricultural Policies (CAP), on the basis of recommendations from European Commission. Three legislative proposals addressing strategic plans in the field of CAP, its financing, management and monitoring, as well as organization of the single market are mentioned, said Romanian Minister of Agriculture, Petre Daea.

Romanian Minister of Agriculture, Petre Daea: Given that we are almost halfway through our EU Presidency, I think this is the right time to analyze where we stand in the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. Since the beginning of Romanian EU Presidency, we have considered Commission's reform proposals and have made great efforts in this regard. An interim report by the EU Council Presidency offers an overview of the current situation with regard to the three legislative reform proposals.

RRA Reporter: Fair distribution of payments remains also a priority of the Common Agricultural Policy, with some changes such as: Member States should ensure that by 2027 all payment entitlements reach at least 75% of the national average. Also, EU countries should cut direct payments per farmer, starting from 60,000 euros per year and reaching a threshold of 100,000 euros per year. Current legislative proposals are designed to adapt the Common Agricultural Policy to the challenges facing European agriculture.

Agenda highlights:

Future of the CAP post 2020

Council will discuss the post 2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform package. Ministers will exchange views on the three legislative proposals:

 a regulation on the CAP strategic plans

 a regulation on the single common market organisation (CMO)

 horizontal regulation on financing, managing and monitoring of CAP

 Future of the CAP post 2020 (background information)

Bioeconomy

Council will hold an exchange of views on the updated bioeconomy strategy which aims to accelerate the deployment of a sustainable European bioeconomy so as to maximise its contribution towards the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Other

Ministers will be informed about a variety of issues including:

 coupled support (support scheme to help certain sectors undergoing difficulties)

 decision by European Patent Office regarding the possibility to patent the results of classical plant breeding

 situation in the meat sector

 small scale fisheries in the context of the new EMFF

 outcome of the Congress “CAP Strategic Plans – Exploring Eco-Climate Schemes” (Leeuwarden, 6-8 February 2019)

 outcome of the workshops organised by the Commission’s Task Force on Water and Agriculture (Sorø, 27 November 2018 and Bucharest, 5-6 February 2019)

Source:Romania2019.eu