There are major differences in how the 27 EU countries handle the new European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). According to an initial overview by Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, the member states give very different interpretations in their national strategic plans (NSPs).
Together, they have created 250 different eco-schemes to provide farmers with subsidies for various forms of nature conservation.
The first overview is based on 19 national plans that have so far been assessed by the European Commission. The remainder have been submitted but not yet evaluated. The overview does not name countries, so a proper comparison of the Dutch situation with other countries is not yet possible.
Moreover, the Russian war against Ukraine could significantly disrupt many of the submitted plans, Wojciechowski said. Many parts of the CAP 2023-2027 will need to be reassessed, but the Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategies will not be weakened or revised.
The first inventory suggests that there is no longer a uniform 'common' European agricultural policy, but rather national plans that try to achieve the same goals in different ways.
For rural development, most countries allocate little to no funding, and according to Wojciechowski, extra money will have to be taken from the already existing cohesion funds.
Commissioner Wojciechowski expressed optimism 'that so much is already on paper,' but also subtly criticized 'that there is still much room for improvement' and 'that many countries still need to specify concrete numbers and figures.'
He also regretted that, in his opinion, there is so little attention to encouraging young farmers. There is also little focus on animal welfare and the phased reduction of cage use. He said he will address these issues in his assessment letters at the end of this month.
The Agriculture and Food Commissioner also stated that little attention so far has been given to environmental and nature protection, and that most countries lag behind in this regard. Regarding the transition to 'more organic,' Wojciechowski acknowledged that the starting point varies considerably per country and that this will be taken into account. He previously mentioned such a flexible assessment approach for the Netherlands.
Although several countries protested again about this, Wojciechowski plans to make all his national assessment letters public, so farmers in all EU countries can see how the CAP is handled in other member states.
Especially the Central European Visegrad countries are still obstructive: they believe the European Commission is acting outside its legal framework in some aspects. Furthermore, they think Brussels has no say over their 'national' plans.
Several countries somewhat agree with this but do not want to escalate to confrontation. Wojciechowski warned that obstructers risk losing out on EU subsidies.