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Tag: CAP

Amendments to the Strategic Plan of the Latvian CAP 2023-2027 approved by the EC simplify the application of support payments to farmers

On November 12, the European Commission (EC) approved the Second Amendment to the Strategic Plan of the Common Agricultural Policy of Latvia (CAP SP) for 2023-2027 developed by the Ministry of Agriculture. The main changes concern the application of direct payments and rural development interventions, simplifying conditions and avoiding excessive detailing of requirements.

The CAP SP revises a number of provisions of good Agricultural and environmental condition (GAEC) standards, specifying them for the protection of wetlands and peatlands, the establishment of buffer strips along water bodies and plant changes. Simplified conditions for the grant of multi-ecoscheme support in order to reduce the administrative burden on farmers by avoiding excessive detailing of CAP SP requirements. The conditions for a system of social conditions relating to working and employment conditions or to the obligations of the employer have been laid down. Changes to direct payment measures (interventions) will apply from 2025 onwards.

The CAP SP also specifies the conditions for a number of rural development measures. For more information on the amendments approved by the EC, visit website of the Ministry of Agriculture.

For the implementation of the CAP SP, EUR 2.5 billion is foreseen for 2023-2027, with the largest part of the funding, or EUR 1.714 billion, in the form of direct payments. EUR 0.791 billion is foreseen for rural development measures and EUR 10.1 million for support measures for the common organisation of the market.

Amendments to the CAP Strategic Plan were prepared by experts from the Ministry of Agriculture in cooperation with industry, organising several CAP expert working groups in the first quarter of 2024. At the meetings, experts discussed and agreed on the necessary amendments together with farmers’ and environmental non-governmental organisations. The amendments to the CAP SP on 14 May 2024 were also agreed with the monitoring Committee of the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027.

The Latvian CAP SP is a medium-term policy planning document that defines support priorities and support instruments for agriculture and also rural development. After the first year of implementation of CAP support, it was concluded that changes to a number of support measures were needed to reduce the level of detailing of conditions in the CAP SP and the administrative burden on farmers and to increase the interest of farmers in applying for a wider range of support.

Information source: Ministry of Agriculture

ActusQ Newsletter October 2024

ActusQ October newsletter about current topicalities in European and Latvian agricultural sector has been published! At the end of the newsletter you will find selected agricultural real estate offers.

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Latvia stresses the need to simplify CAP in discussions of agricultural policy makers of EU Member States

At the informal meeting of the Council of Ministers for Agriculture of the European Union (EU) held from 8 to 10 September, agricultural policy makers and experts talked about the necessary elements for the future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2027. In order to ensure sustainability and competitiveness and to manage crisis situations, it is necessary to significantly reduce bureaucracy and administrative burden.

Latvia, represented by Ģirts Krūmiņš, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture , emphasized in the discussion that the European Commission should review the conditions for implementation of the CAP and simplify them, as well as reduce the detailing of the information to be reported in the CAP Strategic Plan (SP). The administrative burden on farmers has increased many times and needs to be reduced.

Similarly, the European Commission (EC) is not sufficiently forthcoming toward adjustment of the planned indicators and the modification of the value of the planned results. Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture (ZM) is concerned whether and how it will be possible to adapt the CAP SP and whether the planned timetable will allow the anomalies identified to be corrected in a timely manner.

In order for the CAP to continue supporting farmers in the implementation of the European Green Deal, to ensure sustainable farming and, at the same time, not to lose competitiveness on the market, it is necessary to identify gradually and purposefully the “green objectives” and the benefits thereof. At the same time, it is important to offer voluntary and manageable “green transition” measures, in return for support to compensate for at least part of costs and income foregone. There is also a need for high-quality training on the benefits of the green transition, the latest technologies and economic benefits, and the exchange of experiences between farmers. All this requires sufficient financial resources and investment and a simpler and more flexible approach to implementing the measures.

On the other hand, in order to better cope with crises in agriculture, it would be necessary to develop a system for anticipating and acting on crises at the EU level, as it is primarily necessary to deal with crises rather than their consequences. At the same time, the availability of adequate EU funding for crisis management needs to be considered, according to ZM experts.

Overcoming the difficulties, caused by emergencies, should not be left to each Member State alone, according to representatives of the ZM delegation. However, each Member State must strengthen farmers’ risk-taking capacity and also their responsibility for the consequences if the farmer himself has not made use of risk mitigation options such as insurance.

Information source: Ministry of Agriculture

ActusQ Newsletter August 2024

ActusQ August newsletter about current topicalities in European and Latvian agricultural sector has been published! At the end of the newsletter you will find selected agricultural real estate offers.

View as PDF file

ActusQ Newsletter May 2024

ActusQ May newsletter about current topicalities in Latvian agricultural sector has been published! At the end of the newsletter you will find selected agricultural real estate offers.

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The European Commission approves amendments to the Strategic Plan of Latvia’s Common Agricultural Policy for 2023-2027

On Thursday, September 7, the European Commission (EC) approved the amendments to Latvia’s Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan (CAP SP) for 2023-2027 developed by the Ministry of Agriculture (MofA).

Latvia’s CAP SP for 2023 – 2027 is a medium-term policy planning document that determines support priorities and support instruments in the field of agriculture, as well as rural development. When starting the implementation of the CAP SP and developing the national legislation for the application of the CAP SP, it was found that it is necessary to improve several conditions and measures (interventions) for receiving support in order to ensure their correct administration and application according to Latvian agro-climatic conditions. Therefore, on May 9, 2023, a draft amendment to the CAP SP was submitted to the EC.

Amendments have been made to improve:

  • definitions of agricultural land maintenance and crops;
  • the conditions of good agricultural and environmental standards, such as the preservation of perennial grasses, sowing on steep slopes and the creation of landscape elements in arable land;
  • the conditions of eco-schemes, assuming that from 2024, farmers will have the opportunity to receive eco-scheme support for a wider range of crops;
  • several rural development interventions. For example, in the agro-environmental and LEADER interventions the conditions for appropriate receipt have been specified, but in the intervention LA6 “Support for young farmers to start a business” the period of obtaining education was extended from 3 to 4 years. Likewise, the monitoring period for rural development interventions has been reduced from five to three years for small projects (with the amount of attributable costs up to 50 000 euros);
  • sectoral intervention measures and in the future, when developing operational programs of producer organizations, it would be possible to also include covering staff and administrative costs related to the management of the operational fund or the preparation, implementation and follow-up of the operational program.

With these amendments, no new support measures (interventions) were introduced in the CAP SP, nor were any measures deleted. The amendments made do not affect the goals and results indicators originally planned and indicated in the CAP SP, and the developed financial plan is not changed.

Currently, the specialists of the Ministry of Agriculture continue active work on the development of national legislation in order to implement the CAP SP amendments and start their implementation.

We draw your attention to the fact that already this year, amendments to the rules of direct payments come into force, which cancel the requirement to harvest the grass mass by September 15, except for biologically valuable grasslands. The defined reference area of perennial grasses has also been reduced. Also, by carrying out winter sowing on steep slopes until September 20, the farmer can choose the most suitable sowing direction.

On the other hand, the changes in the intervention LA6 “Support for young farmers to start a business” are already included in the approved regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers on the implementation of the intervention.

2.5 billion euros have been earmarked for the implementation of the CAP SP for 2023-2027, where the largest part of funding, or 1,714 billion euros, will be allocated in the form of direct payments. 0,791 billion euros are earmarked for rural development measures and 10,1 million euros for support measures of the common market organization.