Common Agricultural Policy reform: First trilogue starts today

This afternoon, Executive Vice-President Timmermans and Commissioner Wojciechowski will represent the Commission at the first trilogue on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform. The trilogue will cover all three proposals – the Strategic Plan Regulation, the Horizontal Regulation and the Common Market Organisation (CMO) Amending Regulation. The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, will have the opportunity to put forward their positions on the key elements of the three Regulations, and agree on the working arrangements and indicative timeline that will apply to the ensuing political trilogues and preparatory technical meetings. The Commission considers the CAP to be one of the central policies for the European Green Deal and it is thus steering the process at the highest level in close coordination with other policy areas. The Commission is determined to play its full role in the CAP trilogue negotiations, as an honest broker between the co-legislators, and as a driving force for greater sustainability to deliver on the European Green Deal objectives. The aim is to agree on a Common Agricultural Policy that is fit for purpose and effectively responds to the higher societal expectations in terms of climate action, protection of biodiversity, environmental sustainability and a fair income for farmers. The Commission presented its proposals for a future CAP in June 2018, introducing a more flexible, performance and results-based approach that takes into account local conditions and needs, while increasing EU level ambitions in terms of sustainability. Higher environmental and climate ambitions is reflected by a new green architecture including the new eco-schemes system. The Commission highlighted the compatibility of its proposals with the European Green Deal in a report published in May 2020. The European Parliament and Council agreed on their negotiating position respectively on 23 and 21 October 2020, enabling the start of the trilogues.