The text, approved on Wednesday afternoon with 38 votes in favor, eight against, and two abstentions, proposes increasing the maximum support limits for small farmers: an annual payment of up to 5,000 euros (instead of the 2,500 euros proposed by the European Commission) and a new one-time payment for business development of up to 75,000 euros. The MEPs also wish to reduce the time the European Commission has to approve Member States’ requests to make strategic changes to national strategic plans from three to two months.
MEPs agreed that not only farms fully certified as organic but also those where only some parts are certified as organic, as well as farms located in special conservation areas, should automatically be considered as meeting some of the requirements to maintain land in good agricultural and environmental conditions.
The report by André Rodrigues also proposes reducing the threshold of production or average annual income loss, from at least 20% as proposed by the European Commission, to at least 15%, in order to make more farmers eligible for national financial contributions for insurance premium schemes or mutual funds.
The text also adds animal disease outbreaks to the list of events eligible for crisis payments, using rural development funds.
The approved text agrees that the new crisis payment should be made from rural development funds, adding animal disease outbreaks to the list of occurrences whose impact on farmers could justify such aid.
The socialist MEP stated in a communiqué that the approved text “reinforces simplified payments to small farmers, ensures greater stability in fund access, and gives more decision-making margin to national authorities, avoiding duplications and unnecessary administrative demands.”
“We fulfilled what we said: the CAP cannot be a maze of rules that alienates farmers. It must be an instrument of social justice, territorial cohesion, and stability for those who produce and work in the countryside,” added André Rodrigues.
The text will go to a plenary vote at the European Parliament in October.
