In the wake of the farmers protests that swept France and other European countries earlier this year, EU member states have given a final approval to a revision of environmental regulations in the bloc’s Common Agricultural Policy, which will come into effect by the end of the month.
Environmental groups denounce the relaxation of green policies for political gain ahead of EU elections next month.
Revising CAP
The European Commission has given the green light to revisions of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) passed by the European Parliament at the end of April that will relax some of the environmental regulations required by farmers to receive subsidies – a move denounced by environmental groups.
The revised CAP changes rules on crop rotations and soil cover put in place to restore and preserve degraded habitats, and it exempts small farms from compliance rules.
As demanded by farmers in France and elsewhere, member states will be allowed to remove the obligation for farmers to leave four percent of their land fallow or non-arable (with hedges or woods), enshrining a temporary suspension of the rule in 2023 that was extended to 2024.
A requirement of crop rotation will be dropped, and small farms of less than 10 hectares – which represent some 60 percent of those who receive CAP subsidies – will be exempt from environmental audits.
To address farmers’ concerns about fair prices in the food chain, the Commission unveiled a roadmap that will create an “observatory” on production costs and an evaluation of unfair trade practices, without any specific legislation for now.
Environmental protests
In a letter published on Monday, 140 environmental groups denounced the rollbacks on green agricultural policies for what they say is an opportunistic play to gain political support ahead of the European Parliament elections in June.
“We are horrified that so many politicians across Europe are threatening the basis of life on this planet to provide false solutions to farmers’ hardships,” the groups wrote. “All this as an opportunistic attempt to gather a few more votes in the upcoming elections.”
The changes are “doing nothing to address farmers’ complaints of abusive practices in the supply chain or unfair competition and cheap imports from trade deals”.
The new CAP measures will be published officially and come into effect at the end of May, and farmers can apply for the new regulations to apply retroactively to the first months of 2024.
The rules will apply through end of the current policy period in 2027, after which the new European Commission, which will be constituted after the elections, will propose a framework for a new CAP starting in 2028.
(with AFP)
