AGRICULTURE:
Omnibus regulation
The Commission presented its proposal on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and amending, inter alia, the four CAP regulations on direct payments, rural development, common market organisation (CMO) and the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy (horizontal regulation).
The so-called Omnibus regulation is part of the review package of the Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF) and aims to further simplify the CAP, while also granting enhanced subsidiarity and flexibility.
The Commission briefly presented the agricultural elements of the proposal, including among others:
– greater discretion for member states in the application of the definition of "active farmer",
– the introduction of a sector specific income stabilisation tool targeted at national and regional level,
– simpler rules to access loans and other financial instruments,
– EU-financed coaching activities in the context of operational programmes for fruit and vegetables to encourage farmers to set up producer organisations,
– simplified procedures for the management of import tariff quotas,
– simplified procedures for setting the adjustment rate within the financial discipline.
The Commission's aim is to have the regulation into force as of 1 January 2018.
In the debate that followed ministers generally welcomed the Commission's simplification efforts, in particular with regard to the increased flexibility in the definition of "active farmer" and the introduction of a sector specific income stabilisation tool. They also underlined the importance for them to be involved in the discussions on the agricultural aspects of the proposal.
Delegations also voiced their opinions as to proposed changes to the recovery procedure (the so-called 50-50 rule), permanent grassland, voluntary coupled support, and assigned revenues.
The Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) will discuss the Omnibus draft regulation at a forthcoming meeting.
The full document is available here or via the link below.
Source: consilium.europa.eu
