The national strategic plans of the EU countries for the new European agricultural policy vary so widely that the LNV officials in Brussels have not yet been able to produce a comparative overview. Some countries have summarized their NSP in ten or fifteen pages, while others have done so in 400 or even 4000 pages.
So far, 18 countries have definitively submitted their NSPs to the European Commission, and for 4 countries it is a matter of 'just a few more days.' Five countries are really late: after recent elections, they have taken a new agricultural direction (including Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic). In Belgium, the NSPs of four regions still need to be consolidated.
The senior officials of the AGRI Commission presented a first overview of the submitted plans on Wednesday afternoon in the European Parliament's agriculture committee, and how Brussels is currently handling them. It is expected that by the end of this year, a 'complete overview' can be compiled.
Some MEPs’ fears that the 'latecomers' would disrupt the entire process were contradicted. The new CAP contains provisions that it will commence on January 1, 2023, regardless, and if countries fail to get their affairs in order, they risk losing EU money from the first pillar (farmers' income). It is expected that these latecomers will also be on schedule within two or three months.
Confronted with '400 to 4000 pages,' some MEPs openly wondered whether the European Commission had given the Agriculture Ministries clear guidelines.
It was noted that especially the introduced 'regionalization' in some large EU countries leads to a lot of different rules and regulations. This concerns not only the authority of regional governments but also the involvement of regional and national agricultural organizations.
Commission President Norbert Lins said that the European Commission, the Agriculture Ministers, and the European Parliament must ensure that subsidy rules are ready per country on time so that farmers can, if desired, adjust their sowing and production plans for the new season in a timely manner.