Proposal amending the CMO Regulation, regulations on quality schemes and regulations on specific measures for certain regions

In “A European Green Deal”

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The proposed new multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2021–2027 set the budgetary framework and main orientations for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) earmarking funds for CAP measures and additionally for agri-food research and innovation through the Horizon programme. In this context, on 1 June 2018, the European Commission published a set of three legislative proposals laying down the legislative framework for the CAP for the period 2021–2027.

The three proposed regulations included:

  • the CAP Strategic Plan Regulation (covering a proposed new delivery model with more subsidiarity for Member States, direct payments to farmers, rural development support and sectoral support programmes);
  • the CAP Horizontal Regulation (on financing, managing and monitoring the CAP);
  • the Amending Regulation (amending regulations on the Single Common Market Organisation, on quality schemes for agri-food products and on specific measures for outermost regions and smaller Aegean islands).

The Amending Regulation introduces changes to the following regulations:

  • Regulation 1308/2013 on the common organisation of the markets in agricultural products (CMO). This regulation covers a set of rules to organise the single market for agricultural products, including: public intervention and private storage aid; exceptional measures in case of market disturbance; marketing standards; a milk and vegetables scheme for schools; trade provisions; as well as operational programmes for certain sectors. While most of the CMO regulation will remain unchanged, envisaged adjustments include deleting provisions related to sectorial interventions, as these interventions will be regulated under the CAP Strategic Plan Regulation and will be part of Member States' strategic plans.
  • Regulation 1151/2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs and Regulation 251/2014 on the definition, description, presentation, labelling and the protection of geographical indications of aromatised wine products. It is proposed to amend current rules on geographical indications (GIs) and other quality schemes which are currently spread over four several acts, in order to make the current system easier to manage, as well as make GIs more attractive to farmers and consumers.
  • Regulation 228/2013 laying down specific measures for agriculture in the outermost regions of the Union and Regulation 229/2013 laying down specific measures for agriculture in favour of the smaller Aegean islands. The proposal updates the amount of financing by the EU of specific measures for agriculture in these regions.

A number of obsolete provisions will also be deleted, i.a. those applying to the sugar sector.

In the Council, the CAP proposals have been discussed since June 2018. At the technical level, the file was dealt with by the Working Party on Agricultural Products. After a first round of examination, it was generally considered that existing market support instruments had proved to be effective against market disturbances and the majority of delegations agreed that the CMO should not be overhauled. Subsequent discussions focused on provisions relating to geographical indications and to the wine sector, where the most controversial point was the opening of the market to prohibited vine varieties. The Council's general approach and negotiating mandate were agreed on 21 October 2020.

In Parliament, the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) was in charge of this dossier with Eric Andrieu (S&D, France) as rapporteur. His draft report was published on 25 October 2018. On 1 April 2019, members approved the AGRI Committee’s position on the proposal. On 23 October 2020, Parliament voted on a series of amendments to all three AGRI committee reports on the CAP dossiers. The Parliament's position on the Amending Regulation was adopted by 463 votes to 133, with 92 abstentions. The proposal was referred back to the Committee, thereby opening the negotiations with the Council.

Interinstitutional negotiations between the Commission, Parliament and Council (‘trilogues’), began on 10 November 2020 with a joint meeting at which Parliament and Council presented their positions on all three CAP reform proposals. After this first ‘super trilogue’, meetings dealt with each dossier separately. Regarding the Amending Regulation, the co-legislators were quite close in their positions on wine and geographical indications, but much further apart as regards market management and crisis measures. The most controversial points proved to be the amendments proposed by Parliament on public intervention, private storage aid, trade with third countries, transparency of the market, exceptional market measures and provisions related to the sugar sector. The Council voiced concerns that these changes would go against the market orientation of the CAP, internal market competition rules and WTO commitments. After a series of trilogues, the co-legislators reached a provisional agreement in June 2021. The Council endorsed this agreement on 28 June 2021 and the AGRI committee on 9 September 2021.The whole Parliament voted on the CAP reform package during its plenary sitting on 23 November 2021. The Amending Regulation was adopted with 487 votes in favour, 130 against and 71 abstentions. The formal adoption by the Council took place on 2 December.

The final act (Regulation (EU) 2021/2117) was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 6 December 2021 and entered into force on 7 December 2021.

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Further reading:

Author: Beata Rojek, Members' Research Service, legislative-train@europarl.europa.eu

As of 20/02/2024.