Press Release: Commission welcomes decision to prolong simplified aid scheme in new Member States

The European Commission welcomes the 19 December 2006 decision by the Agriculture Council to extend until 2010 the simplified direct aid scheme applicable in eight of the Member States which joined the EU in 2004. In the interests of simplifying the management of the CAP, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia will be allowed to continue operating the Single Area Payment Scheme (SAPS) for a further two years until the end of 2010. Under SAPS, uniform per-hectare entitlements are granted within any one region from regional financial envelopes.