On 26 July 2013 the European Parliament, Council of Ministers and the European Commission reached an agreement on reforming the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post 2013. While some aspects of the reform will be applicable from 1 January 2014, the majority, including the new payments structure, will apply from 2015 in order to allow Member States time to inform farmers about new arrangements and to adapt computer-based CAP management systems.
The promise from EU leaders was for a ‘greener, fairer and less bureaucratic CAP’. The resulting agreement leaves a great deal of flexibility for Member States to implement the reforms in a way which suits them. Furthermore, final decision on issues such as capping payments, co-financing, and the transfer of funds between pillars have been held over until the negotiations on the wider EU budget this autumn.
The EFRA Committee has agreed to undertake an inquiry to explore how the Government might implement the reformed Common Agricultural Policy in England.