EU votes on proposals to allow Member States more individuality on farm policy

The EU has voted for a post-2020 farm policy which allows Member States to adapt farming policy to their own individual needs.

The EU's Agriculture Committee adopted, by 32 votes in favour to five against, with six abstentions, a set of proposals on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for after 2020.

MEPs said they recognise that EU member states should be allowed to adapt EU farming policy to their needs, but reject any renationalisation of the CAP, which could, they say, distort competition in the single market.

They say the EU farm policy must rest on a common set of objectives. However, Member States should design their national strategies on this basis and pick actions they feel best suited for them, the Committee heard.

While the future EU farming policy should foster performance rather than compliance, farming activities in all Member States should be subject to the same EU high standards and their breach should trigger similar penalties, MEPs say.

Making EU farms more sustainable and fully integrated into the circular economy, fostering innovation, research and smart practices will be among the new CAP’s top priorities.

The Agriculture Committee also said red tape should be cut for the mandatory greening measures and make them more result-oriented, simplify and better target voluntary ones.

Other measures include less money for larger farms with a mandatory EU ceiling and more help to boost support for young and new farmers.

The Agriculture Committee’s ideas will now be scrutinised by the Parliament as a whole during its 28 - 31 May plenary session in Strasbourg.

The news follows comments by the UK's farm minister who told British farmers to have a "change in mindset" as the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice, the Defra Minister of State for Agriculture stated that he saw new British policy as "rewarding and incentivising farmers for what they do, and not subsidising them for income lost."