In January, farmers denounced “the administrative burden” of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), due to environmental criteria that were too “restrictive”, but also the obligation to fallow. Faced with this agricultural anger throughout the European Union, the European Commission proposed in mid-March to relax certain rules of the “green” pact. The revision of these texts took place on Wednesday. What was the vote? What measures have been removed? And what are the reactions of the different political parties? 20 minutes make the point.
Voted by a large majority
On Wednesday, the European Parliament approved this revision of the CAP. These measures, voted on under an emergency procedure, were approved by a large majority (425 votes for, 130 against and 33 abstentions) during the very last plenary session of Parliament, a few weeks before the June elections. . This vote was unanimous on the right and in the center of the European hemicycle.
Environmental measures that will change
MEPs approved the text, which completely removes the obligation to leave at least 4% of arable land fallow or non-productive areas (hedges, groves, ponds, etc.), widely criticized by agricultural organizations. The obligation to rotate crops could be replaced by simple “diversification”.
In the event of extreme climatic episodes, exemptions are possible to avoid penalties – and farms of less than 10 hectares will be exempt from controls and sanctions linked to environmental rules.
To the great dismay of environmental NGOs, the European Commission had proposed to relax part of the “green” criteria that the new CAP had only imposed on farms since 2023.
The reactions of the different political parties
MEP Anne Sander (member of the EPP, right, first group in Parliament) welcomed “a concrete response to the fed-up farmers who can no longer stand this administrative mille-feuille”. The French Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau, for his part, underlined on for the simplification of European rules.
Christiane Lambert, president of the Committee of Professional Agricultural Organizations of the European Union and former boss of the FNSEA, thanked the MEPs who voted “for these common sense measures expected by farmers”.
For their part, the Greens, however, protested against the adoption of this text. “This initiative undermines EU strategies on climate, biodiversity and soil protection,” lamented the MEP Benoît Biteau. In a statement, he stressed that “no significant measure[était] envisaged to improve the income of farmers.
For Marco Contiero, director of European agricultural policy at Greenpeace, this unraveling “will not save farmers and will make us all more vulnerable to extreme weather conditions that destroy crops and livelihoods”.
After its formal approval by the Council, the law will be published in the Official Journal of the EU and will enter into force immediately.