Once again, the European Commission is scrapping green regulations in response to farmers' dissatisfaction. On Friday, Brussels made a proposal for a major adjustment to European agricultural rules, which in practice mainly means only a minimum of green requirements. In recent weeks, the European Commission has already announced other 'emergency measures', but now it wants to suspend nature regulations for the long term.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement of “strong and rapid action” to “support our farmers at a time when they are facing numerous challenges and concerns.”
The proposal can count on broad support from European member states, but it comes at a difficult time. Earlier this week, the European Environment Agency released a comprehensive report on the effects of climate change, which emphasized that a green transformation of the agricultural sector is very urgent. Nature and environmental organizations responded with indignation and disappointment to the new adjustments on Friday.
Regulatory pressure
In recent months, large groups of farmers have taken to the streets in various EU countries for a variety of reasons – from regulatory pressure to unfair competition and too low prices. It put pressure on national governments and therefore also on the European Commission, which has already announced several concessions to farmers in recent weeks. The pressure to act quickly is increased by the approaching European elections in early June, for which polls predict a rise of right-wing radical parties.
That is why a bill for pesticide reduction was previously scrapped. Now Brussels is going one step further, by overhauling the so-called 'Common Agricultural Policy': an extensive set of agreements that are made every seven years about the organization of European agriculture.
Since last year, these agreements have also included certain minimum requirements regarding nature and the environment that farmers must meet – part of attempts to green agriculture. The Commission is now proposing to relax many of these minimum requirements to such an extent that, according to critics, they no longer mean anything.
Soil health
The Commission itself speaks of 'limited and targeted adjustments' that must be taken with 'political urgency' in response to a 'crisis situation in European agriculture'. To this end, she proposes, among other things, significantly relaxing obligations regarding crop rotation, intended to stimulate soil health. The obligation to cover the soil at certain times of the year with special crops, also intended to keep it healthy, will also be abolished.
The requirement to leave a small part – 4 percent – of agricultural land fallow in order to stimulate biodiversity will also be deleted. The latter obligation was previously suspended for next year, but the Commission is now proposing to do so for a long period of time. However, a financial bonus remains available for farmers who voluntarily comply with the green requirements.
The Commission also proposes to completely exempt farmers with less than 10 hectares of land from green obligations. She also wants to give member states more room to give farmers even more flexibility in the application of environmental rules if they see reason to do so. In crisis situations it also becomes easier to suspend rules.
Also read
The same applies in Brussels: the tractors appear, so the green plans disappear
In a response, the World Wildlife Fund calls the measures “misplaced”. “By removing green measures, the EU is destroying the best instrument to guarantee sustainable agriculture and European food security: nature.” Nature organization Birdlife speaks of a “frontal attack on the environmental elements of agricultural policy, which were already the bare minimum to tackle the urgent nature and climate crises.”
The proposals come in the run-up to a summit meeting of European government leaders next Thursday, where, in addition to the war in Ukraine, agriculture will again be at the top of the agenda. Government leaders previously asked the European Commission to provide relaxations for farmers. It is not yet certain whether they are satisfied with the package announced on Friday. In some Member States there is growing interest in more direct political intervention on the price that farmers receive for production.
#Brussels #scrapping #green #agricultural #rules