Speaking to Mr Roderick Galdes, Maltese Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights, Cogeca President Thomas Magnusson welcomed the proposed changes to the income stabilisation tool (IST) in the EU Omnibus Regulation as it will enable aid to be activated when income losses on the farm are 20% instead of 30%. Copa and Cogeca see it as a positive step as it should help to improve uptake of the scheme and better target support, especially for the dairy and beef sectors.
The proposal also includes some changes to the financial instruments to make it easier for farmers to get loans under EU rural Development Policy. But Mr Magnusson expressed concerns about plans to re-open the basic acts now when the talks are now starting on the future CAP post 2020.
Mr Magnusson also welcomed the fact that the EU Commission will keep the rate for Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs) at 5%.The Commissions’ evaluation report claims that ecological focus areas (EFAs) can help to improve biodiversity and support eco-systems services. The review is part of the last reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and covers the first two years of its implementation.
Wrapping up, Mr Magnusson underlined the need for the true simplification of the CAP, saying that we have been calling for this since the negotiations of the last CAP reform. He urged the EU institutions “to agree on a strong, common and most of all simple to use policy that supports farmers in continuing to provide, safe, quality, nutritious food produced in a sustainable manner to citizens”.
