TO ” ditch “. The European Court of Auditors does not mince words when describing the gap between the common agricultural policy (CAP) and the objectives of the green climate agreement. At a time when the Green Deal, the emblematic policy of the European Union (EU) to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, runs the risk of being weakened by the wind of conservatism blowing in the European institutions, the Court analyzed of Auditors, in a report published Monday September 30, how the first EU budget was redistributed (58 billion euros paid each year, including 9 billion for France). The latest framework, negotiated for the period 2023-2027, is supposed to accelerate transformations in the agricultural sector in the face of the climate crisis.
In particular, the CAP 2023-2027 introduced an important novelty by leaving more freedom to Member States to define their own rules for the payment of certain aid. It is precisely these “national strategic plans” (NSP) that the European Court of Auditors analyzed, observing that although these national plans, updated every year, must be approved by the European Commission, it does not accurately measure their ecological level. ambition.
However, according to the auditors, these plans are not in line with the objectives of the green pact and the only quantified contribution that appears in the PSN, the increase in areas cultivated in organic farming, is far from being achieved. At European level, the “Farm to Fork” strategy, adopted in 2021, set a target of 25% of organic surfaces by 2030, compared to 10.5% in 2022, with a growth rate still too slow and very disparate depending on the State (in France, the rate is 10.1%).
Dismantle CAP environmental rules
The Court examined more specifically the strategic plans of four agricultural producing countries: Spain, France, Ireland and Poland. However, he points out, some States have established rules for the payment of voluntarily generous aid, so that as many farmers as possible can benefit from it, without trying to change their practices.
This is why in Ireland, 91% of farmers are eligible for the organic scheme, the main green payment instrument introduced in the new CAP, which is supposed to reward practices beneficial to the climate, biodiversity and animal welfare . In France, the proportion of farmers who can benefit from this payment is even estimated at 99.9%.
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