Press Release: Political agreement on new direction for common agricultural policy

The European Parliament, the EU Council of Ministers and the European Commission have reached an agreement on reforming the common agricultural policy (CAP) post 2013:

- Direct payments are to be distributed in a fairer way between Member States, between regions and between farmers, putting an end to 'historical references'.

- Further improving the market orientation of European agriculture will be supported by allocating new resources to farmers, enabling them to be reliable participants in the food production chain.

- All Member States, all rural areas and all farmers will take simple, proven measures to promote sustainability and combat climate change. Between 2014 and 2020, over EUR 100 billion will be invested to help farming meet the challenges of soil and water quality, biodiversity and climate change.

- The CAP instruments will allow each EU Member State to fulfil the common objectives in an efficient and flexible manner, taking account of the diversity of the 27, soon to be 28 Member States.

All aspects of the reform will be applicable as from 1 January 2014, except for the new direct payments structure ('green' payments, additional support for young people, etc.) which will apply as from 2015 in order to give Member States time to inform farmers about the new CAP and to adapt computer-based CAP management systems.

European Commission: Rapid: MEMO/13/621: CAP Reform – an explanation of the main elements http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-621_en.htm

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