EU Parliament's Agriculture Committee blocks Common Agricultural Policy green targets

Proposals for "green measures" that could tie crop diversification requirements to EU planting subsidies have been weakened by the EU Parliament's agriculture committee giving them more flexibility. The Agriculture Commission has proposed a wide range of changes to the EU Parliament's Common Agricultural Policy reform initiative. The key proposal is to expand the exemption so that more farms are not subject to mandatory green measures. The amendments reflect the concerns of the Agriculture Committee that the recommendations could have a negative impact on crop yields and food supplies.

The Agriculture Committee has been discussing the amendment for most of last year, but the vote was postponed until November due to the postponement of the overall negotiations on the EU's 2014-20 budget (Agrow, No. 652, p. 10). The Committee on Agriculture agreed to the recommendation that 30 per cent of the subsidy payment be linked to compliance with mandatory green measures relating to crop diversification, the establishment of "eco-parks" and the maintenance of permanent pastures. However, it did not endorse the plan to provide exemptions only for farms under 3 hectares. Instead, it argues that exemptions should apply to farms with arable land of less than 10 hectares, while relaxing the 10-30 hectare rule. In addition, those pesticides that meet the requirements of the national or regional environmental certification system will also be exempted.

With regard to crop diversification, the Agriculture Committee stated that farmers with arable land of 10 to 30 hectares should be required to plant at least two different crops, and each crop area should not exceed 80% of the arable land. Farms over 30 hectares are required to grow at least three crops, of which the area of the main crop must not exceed 75%, or the area of the two main crops must not exceed 95%. Farms over 30 hectares in northern Scandinavia will be exempted. The European Parliament's recommendation is that all farms over 30 hectares must grow at least three crops, and each crop must not exceed 70% of the area.

The proportion of arable land in the eco-park will be reduced to 3 per cent instead of the 7 per cent proposed by the EU Parliament. However, this only applies to the first year after the implementation of the new rules of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy, which the Agriculture Committee claims will increase to 5% from January 1, 2016. Eco-parks are required for farms over 10 hectares, but they may include fallow land, terraces, hedgerows, ditches, stone walls, field trees, ponds, nitrogen-fixing crops, buffer strips and woodclumps. Farmers can use the ecological park to engage in production, as long as they do not use pesticides or fertilizers in the ecological park. By the end of March 2017, the European Parliament will have to submit an assessment report on whether the standard should be raised to 7%.

It is planned to vote on the agricultural committee's recommendations at the plenary session of the European Parliament in March, but this depends on the final agreement on the EU's overall budget in February this year.

(translated by Duan Lifang from Agrow No.657)

source: Pesticide Science and Management 2013,34(6),P63.

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