Our voice tomorrow in Brussels, at the Council of Ministers for the changes in the CAP, will be the voice of the entire Greek government and all the farmers of the country, emphasized the Minister of Rural Development and Food, Lefteris Avgenakis from the podium of the Congress of Fisheries, Aquaculture and of Fishing Tourism, pointing out that everyone on this issue must be united as one fist. The Conference is being held for the second day in Elefsina. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry pointed out that the government is clearly on the side of farmers in terms of the necessary changes to the CAP in order to make it more functional and beneficial for them, and in this sense he is already submitting 19 proposals for technical changes from tomorrow, which are product of EUMED-9 collaboration.

In this direction, the minister sent a letter (the letter is attached) to the parliamentary parties, to ETHEAS, to the Interprofessional Organizations, to the Union of Regions and to the 13 Regional Governors, to KEDE, to the Presidents of PED, to Federations of Agricultural Associations and to every recognized institutional factor of the space, with which he asks for their proposals for structural changes in the CAP.

The minister pointed out:

“It is clear the statement of all 9 EUMED-9 countries – since there was a joint statement – that clearly there must be improvements, clearly we are advocates of environmental protection and the green transition, however there must be improvements so that the field is more functional and for farmers to return to the field where they really should be and not at the desks of bureaucrats. It is unimaginable all this weight that has fallen on their backs. For this reason, we are clearly on the side of the farmers who are trumpeting that there is an issue, there is an energy crisis, concern about the climate crisis and a heavy burden from this hoarseness, the dysfunction of the European Union mechanisms that have been imposed and implemented as apply to CAP 23-27.

My voice tomorrow morning and the voice of the Greek Government is the voice of the Greek farmers.

After all, the prime minister of our country himself said so in a recent meeting he had with them. Everything that has been done in the past weeks, everything that has been done by our farmers in an organized manner and with respect to the rest of society, is a tool, a weapon to strengthen even more our own voice, the Greek voice in the heart of Europe. And for this reason we do not stay idle. Just the day before yesterday, Friday, I addressed in writing to submit on March 10 any structural changes proposed for the CAP 23-27 by both the ENPE, the KEDE, the interprofessional Organizations, the Unions, the higher level Bodies of the Primary sector, but also all the political parties.

I addressed the political parties, to submit to us what they propose to go together and as a fist – as it should be done in these cases – for the good of our farmers and in coordination with the alliances we have built to claim structural changes in the CAP 23-27. In this effort – which is common, I repeat – there is no place, at this time, for opposition movements. We want real alliances inside our country, but also at European level”.

Suggestions for technical changes

Tomorrow at the meeting of the Council of Ministers of the EU and also at the meeting of the EUMED-9 group, the Greek minister will submit 19 proposals for technical changes to the CAP, which include:

· Flexibility in applying Airworthiness Standards based on regional and local characteristics, both for the year 2024 and in the longer term.

· Facilitation of the transfer of unallocated amounts between years for the annual interventions of the first Pillar. The risk of resource loss, especially from ecological programs, must be reduced. There is no room for risk.

· Simplification of controls and rationalization of penalties. Audit procedures cannot be disconnected from the reality in the field. There is a need for greater respect for the principles of both simplification and proportionality.

· Harmonization of regulatory requirements regarding investments in irrigation projects.

· Simplifying and speeding up the process of approving amendments to Strategic Plans, as well as increasing the number of permitted amendments.

Checks are ongoing

The minister emphasized that Greece is making use of the international alliances built by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for the benefit of Greek farmers.

In his intervention from the stage of the Congress, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications also referred to the control policies in the market that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has started with mixed levels. As he said, the controls will continue and will be extended in addition to milk and milk products, to honey, meat and fruit and vegetables. And he emphasized that he is unmoved by the position that those who have violated will be punished. “No case will be left in the drawer,” he said, noting that 166 forgotten cases are already being examined.

He also announced that Thursday’s Council of Ministers is discussing a draft law of the HYPAAT which, among other things, strengthens the sanctioning framework for controls.

Finally, the minister called on the agencies involved in fishing, aquaculture and marine tourism to join forces because the goal is common. He reiterated that we must take the fisherman out of traditional postcards and make him a pioneer in production.

The 19 sentences

The set of proposals is as follows:

1. Facilitate the use of good quality satellite imagery to avoid the need for on-site inspections or to review the quality control procedures of our inspection systems to avoid the need for multiple on-site inspections.

2. Simplification of controls – Reduction of necessary inspections to one visit per farm per year.

3. Change of the provision for the automatic release rule from N+2 to N+3, regarding the EAFRD (Article 34 par. 1 of Reg. 2021/2116), as it was in force in the programming period 2014-2022. Harmonization with the provisions applicable to all other Investment and Structural Funds of the European Union, for which the N+3 rule still applies during the current programming period.

4. Harmonization of the provisions regarding the entry into force of the amendment proposals, for Pillar I interventions (EAGF) with the applicable provisions for Pillar II (EAGF). The validity of the amendments from the date of their official submission to the EU services to be applied also for Pillar I (especially for the intervention categories of Article 42 of Reg. (EU) 2021/2115 (sectoral interventions)).

5. Possibility of amending elements of the Strategic Plan of the CAP, only by notification to the EU on certain issues for which there will be a prior agreement. In addition, there should be the possibility of submitting an amendment to the Strategic Plan of the CAP, without limitations as to the number per year to address any needs that arise during its implementation. In addition, to apply retroactivity for certain modifications depending on the nature of the relevant interventions (Article 119 par. 8 of Reg. (EU) 2021/2115).

6. Limitation of the required information in the programmatic text of the CAP Strategic Plan to what is absolutely necessary, taking into account that it is a strategy text and not an operational text (Article 119 para. 7,9 and 12 Reg. (EU) 2021/2115) ( Article 93 par. 1 and par. 3 Reg. (EU) 2021/2115) (Article 92 par. 2 Reg. (EU) 2021/2115) (Article 95 par. 4 Reg. (EU) 2021/2115 (Article 98 par. 2 Reg. (EU) 2021/2115).

7. Review of the requirement for mandatory coherence of the Linked Income Support interventions with the Water Framework Directive (2021/2115/EU, Article 109 paragraph 2 c)) in terms of simplification.

8. Amend the biennial performance review provisions to cover the financial year 2026. The deviation tolerance should be increased from 25 to 40% (2021/2115/EU, Article 135(2)).

9. Acceleration of the negotiation of the amendments of the CAP Strategic Plan, with the significant reduction of the consultation time between the committees and the official signatures.

10. Derogation of 12 months from the following Good Agricultural and Environmental Status (GAEC) Standards: GAEC 5, GAEC 6, GAEC 7, GAEC 8 (2021/2115/EU, Annex III).

11. No obligation for conditional control for holdings with a maximum holding size of up to 10 hectares (2021/2116/EU, Article 83).

12. Annual report – extension of the processing time of the annual report, taking into account the necessary exchange of data by various bodies (managing authority, paying agency, monitoring committee and certification body) and the technical and administrative complexity of the system.

13. Review of environmental and climate requirements and setting realistic deadlines for their implementation. Analysis of the economic impact on the agricultural sector in the EU and adoption of possible fixes to these new policies.

14. Simplified cost options – in cohesion policy, projects below a certain amount are required to use simplified cost options. For non-IACS measures, this could be the option to simplify policy implementation.

15. Clarification of the conditions for the application of the principle of proportionality to ensure a cost-effectiveness ratio adapted to the challenges. Provision for document control when it offers a sufficient degree of certainty or even limit the control of the number of animals only to aid in conjunction with animal production.

16. Reduction of cases where an individual request for force majeure is required, when the control bodies have official data, proving the occurrence of an event in a defined geographical area. For example extreme weather or fires.

17. Flexibility to redistribute unused funds between interventions with proper justification.

18. Flexibility to use up to 2% of the CAP Strategic Plan budget.

19. Definition of the temperature range corresponding to the temperature of melting ice to facilitate trade between Member States in fishery products.

The Conference on Fishing, Aquaculture and Fishing Tourism continues.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications program in Brussels and Paris

This afternoon the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, Lefteris Avgenakis, is leaving for Brussels.

On Monday:

– At 8.30 am there will be a meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries of the European People’s Party

– At 10.00 am the regular Council of the 27 Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries of the EU will take place

– At 13.20 the second meeting of the group of ministers of the countries of the South (EUMED-9) will take place

On Tuesday:

At 9.00 in the morning, in Paris, in the presence of the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty of France, Marc Fesnau, there will be a Ministerial meeting on climate change and health challenges in livestock farming, during the International Agricultural Exhibition. 60 Ministers of Agriculture from around the world are participating.