Romanian EU Presidency: closure of 11 files in agriculture & fishery including unfair commercial practices
Romania has closed 11 files in the field of agriculture, rural development and fisheries in the six months in which it held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, compared to four as originally proposed, and the most important file for the country was the one on unfair commercial practices, according to Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Petre Daea.
"The EU Council Presidency has been a real success in the field that I am coordinating: agriculture, rural development and fisheries. We have 11 files closed compared to four as we initially planned, and we have also advanced very much in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), in respect to the three regulations that covered the Strategic Plan, Financing, Management and Monitoring, and the Common Market Organization. The last two regulations are nearing the end, and the Strategic Plan has been linked to the Multi-Annual Financial Framework. This report also added the partial general approach on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, a very important topic for Romania, but also for other countries due to the interest in aquaculture" explained Petre Daea.
He specified that out of the 11 closed files, the most important for Romania is the file regulating the unfair commercial practices, a file that "catches the major interest of the country".
As regards the funds that Romania will receive in the new financial year, the Minister of Agriculture said he is confident that there will be significant amounts, even if the budget has not been yet approved and the area payments will increase.
"What we know for sure is that convergence will increase and also the support per unit area. I do not know what the sum will be, because we do not have the budget yet, but we are expecting a bigger amount. The debate we had at the AgriFish Council meeting was for a larger or at least equal budget with the current budget, given that there are a whole range of environmental ambitions that financially challenge the farmer," said Minister Daea.
On the occasion of the vote on the future Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union cast in the AGRI Committee of the European Parliament, Romania managed to obtain the voluntary capping of agriculture subsidies, a solution that protects the interests of both large and small and medium-sized farmers. In this way, action in this regard is left in the hands of member states. The approval of a progressive convergence that benefits Romania as a result of the increase of the per hectare subsidy has also been obtained.
As part of the CAP reform package, the Council discussed a progress report by the Presidency on the Council's work on all the Commission's proposals regarding regulations on CAP strategic plans; CAP funding, management and monitoring; and the common organization of the markets in agricultural products.
The Commission's proposals introduce a new delivery model by which member states will have more flexibility in how to use their funds and will be able to tailor-make their programmes," reads the document.
A single set of 9 EU-wide economic, environmental and social objectives will be identified at EU level and each member state will have to draw up a Strategic Plan covering the whole programming period, using both direct payments and rural development. Last but not least, direct payments will be conditional on enhanced environmental and climate requirements, and the new CAP will better target small and young farmers, thereby facilitating generational renewal, and will try and foster greater use of knowledge and innovation.
