Farmers' Assembly on the CAP after 2020

On November 29, European Union Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan presented the vision of the Common Agricultural Policy after 2020 in Brussels. Maira Dzelzkalēja-Burmistre participated in the meeting.

The Commissioner's statement was much better than previously predicted. For example, there was no proposal to co-finance direct payments from national budgets, nor was there any suggestion to set a ceiling on direct payments per beneficiary at the European level, which was feared by farmers in countries with large farms.

Overall, there are a number of positive proposals, for example, the European Commission is proposing to give Member States greater responsibility so that they can choose how to invest their CAP funding most effectively. The main requirement from Brussels would be to achieve certain goals set jointly in Europe, but how each country does this in practice could remain within the competence of each country. We hope that this is not just a trick to divert attention from the criticism of Brussels' bureaucracy to the governments of each Member State. On the surface, it currently looks like a successful way has been found to, figuratively speaking, throw the "stone" of bureaucracy from Brussels to Riga, Berlin, Copenhagen, etc.

It is planned to maintain the two-pillar system (direct payments and Rural Development Support) and finance it at the EU level, and not, as some in Europe want, to nationalize this policy! Similar to the previous planning period, this time too, the most pressing issue for us when creating the Common Agricultural Policy after 2020 is equal direct payments and at least the level of the previous period's rural development envelope.

We also positively assess the changes - more attention will be paid to monitoring the achieved results, less control, and more modern technologies will be used. It has also been mentioned several times that support should reach real farmers whose income depends on agricultural activities, not investors.

A pressing issue for our farmers was what would happen to the greening requirements, which are becoming more illogical and difficult to reconcile with good production practices. Commissioner Hogan confirmed during his speech in the European Parliament that changes are also planned in this regard, namely that it is clear that the same thing does not apply to all EU Member States. In the future, it is planned to set several priorities, for example - nutrient cycling, biodiversity, water protection, etc. And Member States will be able to determine which of these goals they want to achieve and then choose the best practical option for doing so.

We hope that the Common Agricultural Policy after 2020 will be modernized, simplified, and with broader powers for the Member States, not only on paper, but also in life!

Legislative proposals will be developed by next summer, based on this EC CAP communication document. The first version of the future EU budget is also expected to appear in May next year, which will of course also significantly influence what agricultural policy will be like.

For us in the Farmers' Assembly, the relatively peaceful phase of work has also ended and we have at least three years of active lobbying ahead of us! We are very much looking forward to additional strength from you for this work!