2024-09-30 18:30:58
We had “ditch”. The European Court of Auditors did not mince its words when it explained the gap between the common agricultural policy (CAP) and the objectives of the green climate agreement. At a time when the Green Deal, the flagship policy of the European Union (EU) to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, risks being weakened by the conservative wind blowing across European institutions, the European Court of Auditors has been analyzed, is a The report was published on Monday September 30how the main EU budget is redistributed (58 billion euros paid each year, including 9 billion for France). The last strategy, negotiated for the period 2023-2027, should increase the changes in the agricultural sector in the face of the climate crisis.
The CAP 2023-2027 in particular presents an important innovation by giving more latitude to the Member States to define their own rules for the payment of certain aids. It is precisely the “national strategic plans” (PSN) analyzed by the European Court of Auditors, observing that these national plans, updated every year, must approved by the European Commission, the latter does not have a level of environmental ambition.
However, according to the auditors of the Court, these plans are not compatible with the objectives of the green pact and the only quantitative contribution shown in the PSN, the increase in the areas planted in organic agriculture, is not far to be successful. At the European level, the strategy “From farm to fork”, adopted in 2021, sets a target of 25% of organic fields by 2030, compared to 10.5% in 2022, with the growth rate still very slow and very different depending on the State (in France, the rate is 10.1%).
Unraveling CAP environmental laws
The Court looked more specifically at the strategic plans of four agricultural producing countries: Spain, France, Ireland and Poland. However, he noted, some states have set rules for the payment of voluntary charitable assistance, so that as many farmers as possible can benefit from it, without trying to change their practices.
This is why in Ireland, 91% of farmers are eligible for the eco-plan, the first green payment instrument introduced in the new CAP, it should pay beneficial actions to the climate, biodiversity and welfare animal. In France, the proportion of farmers eligible for this payment is also estimated at 99.9%.
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