• The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) sent to the Autonomous Communities, as Regional Management Authorities, a proposal to modify the CAP Strategic Plan (PEPAC), which will serve as a basis for initiating dialogue with the EC.
• These changes include reducing controls on farmers to minimize administrative burdens and adding short- and medium-term measures—on top of existing ones—to improve farmers' position in the food supply chain.

On March 15, the European Commission (EC) proposed reviewing certain provisions of the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) relating to two areas:

• Conditionality or “Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions” (GACE).
• Measures to improve farmers' position in the food supply chain.

These amendments include reducing controls on farmers to minimize administrative burdens and offering greater flexibility to meet certain environmental conditions. The EC also plans to add short- and medium-term measures to existing ones to improve farmers' position in the food supply chain.

This proposal will be discussed at the next Council meeting with EU agriculture ministers on March 24 and 25.

The adjustments would be implemented in the CAP Strategic Plan Regulations of each Member State.

Changes in position in the food chain

Following calls from farmers and Member States to develop new measures to strengthen farmers' position in the food supply chain, the Commission presented a series of short-, medium-, and long-term measures in the reflection paper:

• Measures for immediate implementation :
  • The creation of an observatory of production costs, margins, and business practices.
  • The adoption of a report on the updated status of the implementation of the “ Unfair Commercial Practices Directive ” by Member States.
• Short-term measures in the second and third quarters of 2024 :
  • A targeted amendment to the Common Market Organization (CMO) Regulation will strengthen rules on contracts, producer organizations, and cooperation. A framework for the development of fair trade schemes and short supply chains will also be introduced, with the aim of improving farmers' remuneration, and sustainability agreements will be expanded to include social sustainability.
  • New rules on the cross-border enforcement of unfair trading practices . Currently, at least 20% of the products consumed in a Member State originate in another Member State. It is necessary to strengthen cooperation between national enforcement authorities and improve, among other things, the exchange of information and the collection of penalties.
• Medium- and long-term measures in 2025 : review of the “Directive on Unfair Trading Practices” in the food supply chain, which could be accompanied, if appropriate, by legislative proposals.
• Accompanying measures in the areas of public procurement and to ensure better enforcement of existing rules on products imported or produced in the Union for plants, food, and feed.

Deadlines and environmental balance

The EC intends for some measures to be implemented as early as 2024, as many of the new cross-compliance proposals will be applied retroactively from 1 January 2024 and will therefore be effective for this year's single application.

The Commission believes that the simplification proposals are aimed at maintaining the high level of environmental and climate standards required by the current green architecture of the CAP. Thus, the revision of the Regulation on the CAP Strategic Plans It seeks a balance between the need for the CAP to support the transition to sustainable agriculture, the expectations of farmers and Member States, and the objective of reaching a rapid agreement between the European Parliament and the Council.

Spain's position

On March 15, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food (MAPA) sent the Autonomous Communities, as Regional Management Authorities, a proposal to modify the CAP Strategic Plan (PEPAC), which will serve as a basis for initiating dialogue with the EC.

What changes does Spain's position include?

• Regarding enhanced conditionality , the proposal incorporates the flexibilities already included by the Commission.
• It is proposed to make the requirements for agricultural land use reduction (BCAM) that farmers and ranchers must meet in order to receive full CAP support more flexible . Specifically, those relating to tillage management (BCAM 5), minimum soil cover requirements (BCAM 6), and crop rotation (BCAM 7). It is proposed to abolish the requirement to allocate part of the farm area to non-productive land (BCAM 8).
• Make eco-regimes more flexible, specifically those designed to encourage livestock farmers in the Cornisa region to adopt larger areas of pasture, particularly in sustainable mowing practices and biodiversity islands.
• Modifications to mulch and ground cover practices in woody crops, especially in dryland plantations, where these covers are more difficult to establish. These covers will be permitted in alternating rows, along with grazing in them, and vertical tillage during certain periods.
• Modifications to rural development interventions submitted by the Regional Management Authorities range from the inclusion of new interventions to changes in their design and financial allocations.

The implementation of these proposals is conditional, on the one hand, on the Commission's approval of the PEPAC amendment, and, on the other, on the adoption by the European Parliament and the European Council of the text detailed above.

To consult the process of modifications to the Strategic Plan you can go to here .