New EU farm policy: work in progress

On the 28th of April, the Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) Committee of the European Parliament voted unanimously by 48 votes in favour of the continuation of the existing Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) rules which were due to expire at the end of the year. A one-year transitional period will therefore start on the 1st January 2021 with a possible extension of another year, unless the future EU’s multiannual financial framework (MFF) and the EU farm policy are agreed and approved by the 30th October.

The purpose of such a smooth transition to the post-2020 CAP, as wanted by MEPs, is to provide both predictability and stability for the European agricultural sector by maintaining the existing payments to farmers and rural development beneficiaries. Prior to this vote, MEPs had indeed stated their opposition to any cuts of the CAP-related budget, advocating for the funding of the EU-27 farm policy to be maintained at the 2014 - 2020 level. In addition, they also reiterated their call to finance the agricultural crisis reserve, which offers compensations for severe income drops, from outside the CAP budget.

As the CAP reform depends on the EU long-term 2021 - 2027 budget and it is co-decided by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, it will be crucial to monitor its progress at the institutional level in the coming years. Private and public actors involved in the European agricultural sector will thus need to stay up to date with the latest legislative developments at the European level in order to better define their activities in the long term.