The Council of the EU has formally given the final approval for a review of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), with changes to the rules of some environmental conditions coming into force by the end of May.

Farmers will be able to retroactively apply some of the new rules to environmental conditions for the claim year 2024, the council said today (Monday, May 13).

In March, the commission proposed a targeted CAP review in relation to several Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAECs), to ease the administrative burden for EU farmers, following a series of protests by farmers in several EU member states late last year and early this year.

Among the terms of the review, small farms under 10ha will be exempt from controls and penalties related to compliance with conditionality requirements.

Other changes include:

Under GAEC 8 on non-productive features - EU farmers will have to maintain existing landscape features on their land but will no longer be obliged to dedicate a minimum part of their arable land to non-productive areas, such as fallow land;
Under GAEC 7 on crop rotation - EU farmers will be able to fulfil this requirement by choosing to either rotate or diversify their crops, depending on the conditions they are facing and if their country decides to include the option of crop diversification in their CAP Strategic Plan;
Under GAEC 6 on soil cover during sensitive periods - member states will have more flexibility in setting what they define as 'sensitive periods', and the practices allowed to fulfil this requirement, in light of their national and regional conditions, and in the context of increasing weather variability.

In late April the European Parliament approved the review with 425 votes in favour, 130 against, and 33 abstentions. The approval by the council today was the final hurdle before the review takes effect.

Although the agriculture ministers group of the council did not meet today, the review was officially adopted by a vote of the Education, Youth, Culture and Sports Council.

Commenting after the council gave its approval, Belgium's minister for agriculture David Clarinval (who chairs meetings of agriculture ministers during Belgium's presidency of the council), said: "This targeted review of the CAP is a concrete result of our efforts to cut red tape and ensure simplification for farmers.

"The adoption comes only two months after the proposal by the commission. This clearly demonstrates we are delivering on the promises we have made to European farmers," Clarinval added.

The review will also provide for temporary derogations that member states can implement in extreme cases of adverse weather conditions that prevent farmers to properly work and comply with the GAEC requirements.

To ensure that EU countries can adapt their CAP strategic plans to changing conditions more frequently, the review will allow member states to double the number of amendments allowed each year from once to twice a year.