Click here to get an automatic translation of the text below.
European regions are coming together to stand up for a strong future CAP and for the role of regions in implementing it across political borders  

The legislative proposal on the future CAP, in its current form, has the effect of marginalising, or even jeopardising, the role and autonomy of Europe's regions in managing the CAP, by simply allotting them the task of implementing measures laid down at national level.

"The application of the new governance scheme proposed by the Commission runs the risk of losing the wealth of management experience gained over the years in many European regions, thus making it impossible to outline the development of territorial systems and to grasp their local specificities," explains the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) rapporteur on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Guillaume Cros (FR/PES), vice-president of the Occitan Region.

Renationalising the CAP would reduce European ambitions and jeopardise the beneficial effects of CAP regionalisation. Members of the European Parliament's Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, who come from the two largest political groups (EPP and S&D), support the Coalition of European AGRIREGIONS, which was set up by regions that have a strong agriculture-based economy. Regional ministers of agriculture and institutional representatives of the Committee of the Regions attended the conference in Strasbourg on 3 October and formulated a clear statement:

"The European Committee of the Regions calls for the key role played by Europe's regions in managing and implementing the CAP to be maintained and strengthened, especially for the second pillar, so as to bring policy options in line with specific territorial and sectoral characteristics," stresses Guillaume Cros.

The greatest new initiative of the CAP legislative package proposed by the Commission is that it entrusts the implementation of the CAP to the Member States. Strategic plans covering both the first and second pillars of the CAP will need to be developed on the basis of common European objectives and managed by the Member States following approval by the Commission. The regulation proposed by the Commission does not oblige the Member States to delegate the drawing up of regional rural development plans to the regions, which limits the possibility of developing tailor-made programmes adapted to the realities of the field, contrary to the objectives set by the European Commission.

The Coalition of European AGRIREGIONS wishes to reaffirm the fundamental principles of the CAP: food autonomy, a fair standard of living for farmers, stable markets, secure supplies and reasonable prices for consumers. At the same time, the Coalition is demanding an appropriate budget for stronger rural development and an ambitious, fairer and more sustainable CAP.

Further information:

CoR opinion on The CAP after 2020

Contact:

Wioletta Wojewodzka

Tel. +32 2 282 22 89

wioletta.wojewodzka@cor.europa.eu

Share :