Seminar on the Common Agricultural Policy after 2020 | Simply better CAP post 2020 - mission impossible? | bit.ly/1YiEYch

1. Finnish Preliminary Views on
the Future CAP
Kari Valonen, Head of EU Coordination
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
19.4.2016

2. To be touched upon
• Principles important for Finland
• Lessons learned, challenges to be met
• A simpler model (?)

3. Principles
• The agricultural policy needs to be maintained as a
common policy.
• The CAP must enable diverse agricultural production
in all regions of the EU, also in those areas where
production costs are high due to natural conditions.
Flexibility and specific solutions for MS are
needed due to different structures and production
conditions.

4. Lessons learned
• The two pillars of CAP are mixed and have common
elements but lack harmonization (definitions differ,
similar objectives under both pillars).
• Direct payments, market measures and rural
development measures are appropriate basic tools
for meeting policy objectives…
• …but the structure, implementation and the
control/audit/sanctions regime of the policy needs to
be simplified.

5. Lessons learned (cont.)
• New tools need to be developed for market and risk
management.
• Environmental and climate change objectives need to
be tackled – but in a more simple fashion.
• A more detailed and targeted policy requires also
more controls and follow-up of its effects.
how to find a balance?

6. Lessons learned (cont.)
• In implementation, control and audits, the Commission’s
regular answer to ECA and EP criticism is tightening the
rules.
• The ever more detailed regulation makes the policy
unmanageable for the farmers and the PAs…
resulting to higher implementation costs, and …
despite a considerable increase in control costs the
error rates do not normally fall below 2 % level ...
 thus a need for ever tighter control…

7. Lessons learned (cont.)
• There is a need for a serious discussion on controls
between the Court of Auditors, the Commission, the
Council and the EP.
• The control efforts, costs and sanctions must be in
proportion to the real risk to the EU funds. At the
moment the cost-benefit point of view is missing.

8. Challenges
• Need to answer societal expectations concerning e.g.
– traditional CAP objectives
– environmental issues
– climate change adaptation/mitigation
– increased market volatility
– risk management
• How to do it without increasing EU funding and
maintaining a common policy that uses the funds
effectively for meeting the objectives?

9. A simpler model
• Move from two pillars to one pillar structure
simplification: remove overlapping elements
harmonization: have only one set of objectives
and definitions throughout the policy

10. Other RD
Investments
Animal welfare
Organic production
Young farmers
ANC
New SEM**
Crises/risk mngment
Coupled support
Basic payment*
10
21.04.16
10
Investments
ANC-PII
Market measures
Small farms
Basic payment
Redistributive payment
PillarIIPillarI
CAPpost2020,SinglePillar
CAP2014-2020
Coupled support
Young farmers
ANC-PI
Greening
Animal welfare
Young farmers
Organic production
Market measures
AECM
• SAPS type, regionalized flat-rate,
no entitlements
Other RD
** ”Single Environmental Measure”
combining greening and AECM
?
?

11. A simpler model (cont.)
• Review the baseline: evaluate CC to simplify it, include
only clear, relevant and directly farming-related
matters on which the farmer can influence.
• SAPS-type basic support: regionalized flat-rate,
no payment entitlements.
• Continue coupled payments at the current levels for
maintaining production in vulnerable sectors and
areas.

12. A simpler model (cont.)
• Combine greening, environmental and climate
measures into a new comprehensive ”Single
Environmental Measure” (SEM)
fix a minimum % for EU funding in national
”envelope”
• Enhance risk management  which tools?

13. A simpler model (cont.)
• The Commission approves MS policy choises and
support elements, but in a much simpler manner than
the current RDPs
• Less measures, more harmonized and streamlined
rules
more clarity, less IT systems to design and
manage, less control, less errors (hopefully)…

14. To sum up
• The single pillar model
is more simple, coherent and stable
answers to the societal needs concerning food
security, environment and climate
is more flexible for MS and less bureaucratic for
farmers

15. Other RD
Investments
Animal welfare
Organic production
Young farmers
ANC
New SEM**
Crises/risk mngment
Coupled support
Basic payment*
15
21.04.16
15
Investments
ANC-PII
Market measures
Small farms
Basic payment
Redistributive payment
PillarIIPillarI
CAPpost2020,SinglePillar
CAP2014-2020
Coupled support
Young farmers
ANC-PI
Greening
Animal welfare
Young farmers
Organic production
Market measures
AECM
• SAPS type, regionalized flat-rate,
no entitlements
Other RD
** ”Single Environmental Measure”
combining greening and AECM
?
?