Changes from plenary report to adopted text

RemovedDRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

AddedP9_TA(2020)0354

Removedon the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down certain transitional provisions for the support by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) in the year 2021 and amending Regulations (EU) No 228/2013, (EU) No 229/2013 and (EU) No 1308/2013 as regards resources and their distribution in respect of the year 2021 and amending Regulations (EU) No 1305/2013, (EU) No 1306/2013 and (EU) No 1307/2013 as regards their resources and application in the year 2021

AddedTransitional provisions for support from the EAFRD and EAGF in the years 2021 and 2022 ***I

Removed(COM(2019)0581 – C90162/2019 – 2019/0254(COD))

AddedCommittee on Agriculture and Rural Development

AddedPE646.753

AddedEuropean Parliament legislative resolution of 16 December 2020 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down certain transitional provisions for the support by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) in the year 2021 and amending Regulations (EU) No 228/2013, (EU) No 229/2013 and (EU) No 1308/2013 as regards resources and their distribution in respect of the year 2021 and amending Regulations (EU) No 1305/2013, (EU) No 1306/2013 and (EU) No 1307/2013 as regards their resources and application in the year 2021 (COM(2019)0581 – C9-0162/2019 – 2019/0254(COD))

(Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2019)0581),

Changed– having regard to Article 294(2) and Article 43(2) and Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C90162/2019),

– having regard to Article 294(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Removed– having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of …,

Removed– having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions of ... ,

– having regard to the opinion of the Court of Auditors of 26 February 2020,

Change 1

Added– having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 7 May 2020,

Added– after consulting the Committee of the Regions,

Added– having regard to the provisional agreement approved by the committee responsible under Rule 74(4) of its Rules of Procedure, and the information from the Council on approval of Parliament's position, in accordance with Article 294(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

▸5 unchanged paragraphs

– having regard to Rule 59 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Regional Development,

– having regard to the letter from the Committee on Budgets,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (A9-0101/2020),

1. Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;

Change 2

Added2. Approves its statements annexed to this resolution;

Added3. Approves the joint statements by Parliament and the Council annexed to this resolution;

Added4. Takes note of the statements by the Commission annexed to this resolution;

5. Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it replaces, substantially amends or intends to substantially amend its proposal;

6. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

Change 3

RemovedRecital 2: (2) The Commission proposed to link the CAP to the delivery of performance (‘delivery model’). Under the new legal framework, the Union is to set the policy parameters, such as objectives of the CAP and basic requirements. A strong Union framework is essential to ensuring that the CAP remains a common policy and to ensure a level playing field. Member States are also to have a greater responsibility as regards how they meet the objectives and achieve targets. Accordingly, Member States are to draw up CAP Strategic Plans, based on an ex-ante analysis and an assessment of needs, which are to be approved by the Commission and implemented by Member States.

AddedP9_TC1-COD(2019)0254

RemovedRecital 2 a (new): (2a) With a view to the next reform of the CAP, and taking into account the new ambitions set out in the Commission’s Communication of 11 December 2019 on the European Green Deal (“the European Green Deal”), Member States should further promote agro-environmental and climate-related measures in force and any other tool that can help farmers in their efforts towards an ecological transition.

AddedPosition of the European Parliament adopted at first reading on 16 December 2020 with a view to the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2020/… of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down certain transitional provisions for support from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) in the years 2021 and 2022 and amending Regulations (EU) No 1305/2013, (EU) No 1306/2013 and (EU) No 1307/2013 as regards resources and application in the years 2021 and 2022 and Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 as regards resources and the distribution of such support in respect of the years 2021 and 2022

RemovedRecital 2 b (new): (2b) In its resolution of 14 November 2018 on the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 – Parliament’s position with a view to an agreement1a, the European Parliament took a position in favour of maintaining the financing of the CAP for the EU-27 at the level of the 2014-2020 budget in real terms, while budgeting the initial amount of the agricultural reserve, namely EUR 383 255 million in 2018 prices (EUR 431 946 million in current prices). The figures provided for in this Regulation should therefore be calculated on the basis of the figures agreed for the MFF 2021-2027 or, should that MFF not be adopted in time, on the basis of extended 2020 ceilings and provisions in accordance with Article 312(4) TFEU. / 1a P8_TA(2018)0449.

Added(As an agreement was reached between Parliament and Council, Parliament's position corresponds to the final legislative act, Regulation (EU) 2020/2220.)

RemovedRecital 3: (3) The legislative procedure was not concluded in time to allow Member States and the Commission to prepare all elements necessary to apply the new legal framework and the CAP Strategic Plans as of 1 January 2021, as initially proposed by the Commission. That delay creates uncertainty and risks for farmers and the entire agriculture sector. In order to alleviate that uncertainty, this Regulation should provide for the continued application of the current rules and uninterrupted payments to the farmers and other beneficiaries, and thus provide predictability and stability during the transitional period until the date of application of the new legal framework (“transitional period”).

AddedANNEX TO THE LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

RemovedRecital 3 a (new): (3a) The continuity and predictability of the support to farmers through the CAP is essential for the stability of the agricultural sector, as well as for maintaining the vitality of rural areas and regions, and is contributing to environmental sustainability.

AddedStatement by the European Parliament on CAP transitional arrangements and the Multiannual Financial Framework

RemovedRecital 4: (4) Therefore, in order to ensure that support can be granted to farmers and other beneficiaries from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) in 2021 and, where applicable, in 2022, the Union should continue to grant such support for one or, where applicable, two more years under the conditions of the existing legal framework, which covers the period 2014 to 2020. Member States should ensure the uninterrupted continuation of that support to farmers and other beneficiaries during the transitional period. The existing legal framework is laid down in particular in Regulations (EU) No 1303/20137, (EU) No 1305/20138, (EU) No 1306/20139, (EU) No 1307/201310, (EU) No 1308/201311, (EU) No 228/201312 and (EU) No 229/201313 of the European Parliament and of the Council. In addition, to facilitate the transition from existing support schemes to the new legal framework which was planned to cover the period starting on 1 January 2022, rules should be laid down to regulate how certain support granted on a multiannual basis will be integrated into the new legal framework.

AddedCrisis reserve fund

RemovedRecital 4 a (new): (4a) This Regulation should provide the Member States with sufficient time to prepare their respective CAP national strategic plans, as well as the administrative structures necessary for successful implementation of the new legal framework. This should not discourage Member States from presenting their respective national strategic plans in a timely manner. All CAP strategic plans should be ready to enter into force once the transitional period ends. This would provide much-needed stability and certainty for the farming sector.

AddedSince its establishment in 2014, the reserve for crises in the agricultural sector has never been activated due to the mechanism of financial discipline provided for in Article 25 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, according to which funding for that reserve is drawn at the beginning of each year from the total amount of direct payments. Unused money is returned to direct payments at the end of the year. As a result, the reserve has never been used in order to avoid withholding resources from farmers.

RemovedRecital 4 b (new): (4b) In order to achieve a successful modernisation and simplification of the CAP, the Member States and the Commission should extensively consult farmers and all relevant stakeholders during the preparation of Member States’ CAP Strategic Plans and in order to contribute to the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy. Preparatory work on the development of Member States’ CAP Strategic Plans should be undertaken without delay to ensure a smooth transition for beneficiaries into a new programming period.

AddedEstablished to assist farmers with price or market instability, the fact that the reserve has never been activated is testament to the limitation of its financial structure and operation. The increasing frequency of economic, as well as adverse climate and sanitary, conditions resulting in significant market disruption, demonstrates the urgent need for a fully-functioning crisis reserve fund, which can be activated and made available in a responsive and efficient manner.

RemovedRecital 5: (5) In light of the fact that the Union should continue to support rural development throughout the transitional period, Member States, that demonstrate the risk to run out of funds and not to be able to undertake new legal commitments for all or certain measures and the resulting expenditure in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, should have the possibility to extend their rural development programmes or certain of their regional rural development programmes supported by the EAFRD throughout the transitional period and to finance those extended programmes from the budget allocation for the corresponding years. The extended programmes should aim at maintaining at least the same overall level of environment and climate ambition, thereby requiring at least the same percentage of EAFRD expenditure for the measures referred to in Article 59(6) of that Regulation.

AddedThe European Parliament stresses that a fully-financed crisis reserve fund, initially established at EUR 400 million in addition to the EAGF and EAFRD budgets, which is cumulative, with unused funds carried over and added to the following year across the programming period, would function more effectively and with greater impact to provide timely crisis assistance and the funding of targeted measures for the sectors affected.

RemovedRecital 6: (6) Since certain Member States may still have funds provided by the Union in previous years, Member States should also have the possibility not to extend their rural development programmes or not to extend certain of their regional rural development programmes or to complete the remaining funds with part of the allocations for the years of the transitional period as needed. Those Member States should have the possibility to transfer the EAFRD budget allocation for 2021 or where applicable, for 2022, or the part of the EAFRD budget allocation that was not used for extending their corresponding to the regional rural development programmes that have not been extended, to the financial allocations for the remaining of the programming period, in accordance with Council Regulation (EU) …/…[Regulation laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027]14.

AddedPOSEI and Aegean islands

RemovedRecital 7: (7) In order to allow the Commission to provide the necessary financial planning and the corresponding adjustments of the annual breakdowns of the Union support set out in the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, Member States should inform the Commission soon after the entry into force of this Regulation whether they decide to extend their rural development programmes and, in case of regional rural development programmes, which of those programmes they decide to extend, and if they intend to fund them partly with remaining funds for the previous budget allocation, and consequently which corresponding amount of the budget allocation for the years during the transitional period is not to be transferred to the following years.

AddedDue to their geographical situation, in particular their remoteness, insularity, small size, difficult topography and climate, the outermost regions, as referred to in Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, are faced with specific socio-economic problems related to the supply of food and agricultural products essential for consumption or agricultural production. Specific measures in the agricultural sector to remedy the difficulties caused by that specific situation, as provided for in that Article, were established in Regulation (EU) No 228/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Furthermore the scheme for specific measures for agriculture in favour of the smaller Aegean islands provided for under Regulation (EU) No 229/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council also tackles the same issues but in a different geographical location.

RemovedRecital 8: (8) Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 lays down common rules applicable to the EAFRD and some other Funds, which operate under a common framework. That Regulation should continue to apply to programmes supported by the EAFRD for the 2014–2020 programming period as well as to those programmes supported by the EAFRD for which Member States decide to extend that period to 31 December 2021 or, where applicable, to 31 December 2022. For those Member States, the Partnership Agreement drawn up for the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2020 in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 should continue to be used as a strategic document by Member States and the Commission with regard to the implementation of support granted by the EAFRD for the programming year 2021 or, where applicable, the programming year 2022.

AddedThe importance of specific measures and opportunities in those regions and islands justifies the level of special support which is crucial for the successful implementation of those measures. Therefore, taking into account the public commitments previously given by the Commission to those regions and islands, the European Parliament calls for the undisturbed continuation of the very successful programmes run under Regulations (EU) No 228/2013 and (EU) No 229/2013 and the maintenance of at least the current level of support for those regions and islands. In that way, the Union would show its solidarity and commitment to those regions and islands facing specific disadvantages.

RemovedRecital 10: (10) Regulation (EU) No 1310/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council15 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 807/201416 provide that expenditure for certain long-term commitments undertaken pursuant to certain regulations that granted support for rural development before Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 should continue to be paid by the EAFRD in the 2014-2020 programming period under certain conditions. That expenditure should also continue to be eligible for the duration of their respective legal commitment under the same conditions in the programming year 2021 or, where applicable, the programming year 2022. For reasons of legal clarity and certainty, it also should be clarified that the legal commitments undertaken under measures that correspond to measures of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 to which the integrated administration and control system applies, should be subject to this integrated administration and control system and that payments related to these legal commitments have to be made within the period from 1 December to 30 June of the following calendar year.

AddedStatement by the European Parliament on interbranch organisations in the outermost regions Given their very small size and their insularity, local markets in the outermost regions are particularly vulnerable to price fluctuations linked to import flows from the rest of the Union or from third countries. Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) recognises the special needs of the outermost regions and sets out the basis for a legislative framework to help them tackle their particular situations. This is further addressed in Regulation (EU) No 228/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council. In particular, since the use of interbranch organisations has shown potential for addressing the specific needs of the agricultural production sectors in the outermost regions, flexibility in the implementation of the relevant provisions of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council in those regions should already be allowed in order to fully harness the resources allocated by this Transitional Regulation to those regions. Therefore, the interbranch organisations which are recognised under Article 157 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and are deemed representative should have the possibility to take the necessary collective measures designed to ensure that local production remains competitive on the local markets in question and sustainable. To that end, notwithstanding Articles 28, 29 and 110 TFEU and Article 165 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, and without prejudice to Article 164 of that Regulation and based on Article 349 TFEU as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Union in its judgment in joined cases C-132/14 to C-136/14, the European Parliament emphasises the importance of exploring all appropriate instruments in order to allow the Member States concerned, in the context of extended interbranch agreements and after consultation with the stakeholders concerned, to make individual operators or groups of economic operators who are not members of the interbranch organisation concerned but which operate on the local market in question, irrespective of their origin, pay that organisation all or part of the financial contributions paid by its members, including in cases where the proceeds of those contributions fund measures to maintain only local production or where the contributions are levied at a different stage in the marketing process.

RemovedRecital 14: (14) In light of the fact that the CAP Strategic Plans to be prepared by Member States in accordance with the new legal framework are to be applicable as of 1 January 2022 or 1 January 2023, as applicable, transitional rules should be laid down to regulate the transition from existing support schemes to the new legal framework, in particular Regulation (EU) …/… of the European Parliament and of the Council 18[CAP Strategic Plan Regulation]. In accordance with the principles set out in the European Code of Conduct on Partnership established by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 240/201418a, Member States should ensure participation of regional and local authorities, civil society organisations, including beneficiaries, at all stages of preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the transitional measures and programmes. / 18a Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 240/2014 of 7 January 2014 on the European code of conduct on partnership in the framework of the European Structural and Investment Funds (OJ L 74, 14.3.2014, p. 1).

AddedJoint statement by the European Parliament and the Council on the outermost regions and smaller Aegean islands

RemovedRecital 14 a (new): (14a) The transitional rules provided for in this Regulation are intended to allow the measures currently in force to be extended for the duration of the transitional period. During the transitional period and in order to anticipate as far as possible the implementation of the future renewed legal framework for the CAP, the Member States, in their work and their consultations on the prefiguration of their future CAP strategic plans, should focus on the new tools provided for, and in particular on the possibility for new sectors to develop operational programmes.

AddedThe European Parliament and the Council recall:

RemovedRecital 16: (16) Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 lays down rules for the common organisation of agricultural markets and includes certain aid schemes in Articles 29 to 60. Those aid schemes should be integrated in the future CAP Strategic Plans of the Member States as sectoral interventions referred to in points (a) to (e) of Article 39 of Regulation (EU) …/… [CAP Strategic Plan Regulation]. To ensure coherence, continuity and a smooth transition between those aid schemes of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and the sectoral types of interventions of Regulation (EU) …/… [CAP Strategic Plan Regulation], rules should be laid down regarding the duration of each of those aid schemes.