CAP: the goal has to be simplification.

Presentation of the 'Financing, management and monitoring of the CAP' Report in the framework of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), in the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee of the European Parliament

The European Parliament, co-legislator on the CAP reform for the first time, has repeatedly stressed the urgent need to make life easier for farmers by simplifying the complex administrative machinery and reducing the burden on farmers, also for the CAP after 2013.

In order to respond to the future challenges for agriculture and rural areas and to meet the objectives set for the CAP - viable food production, sustainable management of natural resources and climate action, and balanced territorial development - Rapporteurs Giovanni La Via MEP, EP Rapporteur on the Financing, management and monitoring of the CAP, presented his draft Report yesterday in the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee of the European Parliament.

"In my proposal, I tried to implement some real needs: the first is simplification at all levels. Starting from business support, which should be as comprehensive as possible, including the market phase and the innovation phase. Agricultural businesses have to learn and use these tools to increase their competitiveness", said Giovanni La Via MEP.

"I believe that simplification also means not wasting farmers' precious time and this is why I thought about the possibility of a multi-annual request with an annual confirmation. We should increase the use of technology in order to avoid too much red tape for the administration and farmers at the same time."

"I also emphasised the need for a renewed and strengthened role of the paying bodies as well as of certification bodies in order to not only ensure greater fairness and transparency, but also to evaluate the possible reduction of controls on the ground for the best performing Member States."

"Furthermore, I tried to make the farmers' penalties system transparent, whose mechanism must be clear for everybody in order to avoid penalties as much as possible. My proposal for the alert system is to avoid that a simple distraction becomes a severe penalty. We also need to clearly distinguish fraud by non-compliance, as this is a big step forward for all the honest farmers who have to be protected. Therefore, my call is for proportionality and in particular to consider violations not only proportionate to the violation committed, but also to the length of the delay and the degree of responsibility attributed to the farmer."

"Finally, as agreed with the others Rapporteurs, this draft Resolution was made on the basis of the maximum values specified for the CAP by the European Commission within the framework of the proposed Multiannual Financial Framework. We have agreed that significant changes in the latter will involve a revision of the contents of this proposal", concluded Giovanni La Via MEP.