EU strikes provisional deal to cut red tape for farmers

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Negotiators for the European Council and European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement to cut red tape in a bid to boost the competitiveness of European agriculture.

In a statement late Monday, the European Council Presidency said they had agreed on a deal to simplify the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which would reduce the administrative burden and number of inspections for European farmers.

These simplification measures could lead to significant falls in administrative costs for both farmers and national administrations.

According to the commission’s initial assessment, they could lead to annual savings of up to €1.6 billion ($1.85 billion) for farmers and more than €200 million for member states’ administrations.

The statement said the agreement also maintains the commission proposal to allow member states to provide crisis payments to farmers who felt the impact of natural disasters, adverse climatic events, or catastrophic events.

"Such payments will ensure continuity of the agricultural activity of the affected farmers," it added.

"It’s important to make farming easier in Europe because this will help the agricultural industry grow and become stronger – boosting the sector’s competitiveness across Europe," Marie Bjerre, the Danish minister for European affairs, said in the statement.

The provisional agreement must now be confirmed by the European Council and the European Parliament before the legislative act is formally adopted by the co-legislators.