Romania: First reactions on the announced future CAP
On Friday June 1, 2018 the European Commission presented its legislative proposals on the future of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) beyond 2020. One of the most important aspects is the capping of direct payments at €100,000 per farm (actually with a sliding scale between €60 000 and €100 000).
The Romanian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has recently repeatedly stated its total opposition against the capping of direct payments.
Immediately after Commissioner Hogan communicated the proposals, the Romanian National Association of Maize Growers (APPR) announced that they strongly oppose the capping. The opinion of APPR is that the capping of direct payments is not a desirable option for Romania, as it would penalize precisely the most efficient farms, those which invested, modernized themselves and created jobs, contributing to the development of their communities. APPR mentions that its representatives will go to Brussels to discuss with DG AGRI about the impact of the proposed reforms on the Romanian agricultural sector.
According to a statement made by the Romanian Minister of Agriculture Petre Daea for the publication AGROINFO, almost half of Romania’s agricultural area would be affected by the capping of direct payments. He mentioned that there are some 13,000 Romanian farmers who have farms larger than 100 ha and who work a total of 5.1 million ha. Out of this area, about 4 million ha would be negatively affected by the capping, which is a lot. He said he would discuss this issue with his other EU colleagues during the informal agricultural council taking place in Bulgaria during June 4-5.