This Tuesday, the chief negotiators of the European Parliament in the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) have warned European governments again to cede some of their aspirations by next week, when the parties will attempt to close a political settlement in Luxembourg or otherwise, they warn, they will block the reform.
"There are still too many points without an acceptable conclusion to the European Parliament. We are willing to go to Luxembourg, but only if we are satisfied with this week's discussions on all chapters. If there are no positive conclusions this week, it will be very hard to close this process of reform under the Irish Presidency," said at a press conference the Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture of the European Parliament, Paolo de Castro.
The European Commission, the Council formed by the 27 and the Parliament have been having trilateral meetings for weeks to try to find common ground and to polish the reform, that is in its final stretch this week.
The three institutions plan to close the political agreement next week in Luxembourg, where the Ministers of Agriculture of the EU meet on Monday and Tuesday, but the MEPs warned that they wouldn't travel there if there were no substantial advances made this week in Brussels.
"Today's decision is that we won't go," noted De Castro, although he also said that they would make their final decision on Thursday, after this week's discussions cycle come to an end. Additionally, he has made it clear that regardless of the agreement that could be reached in Luxembourg, the MEP's final decision would be confirmed later, probably on Wednesday 26, in a vote in Brussels.
The chief negotiators of the Parliament have expressed their anger especially at the refusal of the EU countries to discuss with them items such as the transfer of funds from one pillar to another or the capping of the maximum aid for farmers, an issue that governments want to make voluntary and the European Parliament and the Commission want to make mandatory.
The reason not to include these and other points in the debate is that the European leaders came to an agreement on the chapters related to the budget at a summit last February and do not want to reopen the discussion, while Parliament warns that as a co-legislator it must also give its opinion on these topics.
In the same appearance before the media, De Castro, the Portuguese Socialist Luis Manuel Capoulas Santos, responsible for negotiating direct aids and rural development, has asked the Council and the Commission to be much more flexible because, in his opinion, the Parliament has already yielded some points.
On the internal convergence or 'flat rate' for all farmers in a country to have the same aid per hectare, regardless of the industry or region that they're in, Capoulas Santos said that there have been many advances in order to achieve a balance.
Discussions are oriented toward a balance so that the level of support is sufficient as to avoid a sudden reduction that could paralyze the activity of certain producers, while ensuring a minimum grant of aid, he explained. It is a delicate balance, which seems contradictory but that can be reconciled, ensured the MEP.
The agreement regarding the greening or green payments, which will determine 30% of direct aid to compliance with certain environmental efforts, also seems to be at hand. The consensus here is to include a principle of equivalence to the measures that Brussels is asking for as well as a verification principle.
