Direct payments to EU farmers will be reduced above €60,000 and capped for payments above €100,000 per farm, the European Commission has announced.
For the next long-term EU budget 2021-2027, the Commission has proposed to "modernise and simplify" the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
With a budget of €365 billion, the proposals look to ensure the CAP remains a future-proof policy.
The proposals also give Member States greater flexibility and responsibility for choosing how and where to invest their CAP funding in order to meet goals.
Member States will have the option to transfer up to 15% of their CAP allocations between direct payments and rural development and vice-versa to ensure that their priorities and measures can be funded.
Priority will be given to supporting the small and medium-sized farms that constitute the majority of the EU’s farming sector, and to helping young farmers.
The Commission said it remains committed to achieving a fairer distribution of direct payments between Member States through external convergence.
The proposal also foresees that small and medium-sized farms will receive a higher level of support per hectare and countries will have to set aside at least 2% of their direct payment allocation for helping young farmers' get set up.
At least 30% of each rural development national allocation will be dedicated to environmental and climate measures. 40% of the CAP's overall budget is expected to contribute to climate action.
