The European Commission is waiting for farmers’ opinions on the impact of the current Common Agricultural Policy on their daily work and proposals for simplifications in its operation. For this purpose, it has made available a survey that can be completed in Polish.
Direct dialogue with farmers on the future of agriculture in the EU Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and Janusz Wojciechowski, EU Commissioner for Agriculture, announced in 2023.
Survey for farmers
The EC has just moved from words to deeds. The Commission has now launched an online survey to directly collect the views of EU farmers.
The survey is open from March 7 until April 8 and contains short questions, available in all EU languages, such as: How much time is spent each year on administrative tasks related to the application of aid and reporting obligations? Do they use mobile devices to deliver geotagged photos? How do they assess the complexity of the different procedures and regulations applicable to farms? Did they use external assistance in 2023 to prepare an application for assistance under the CAP?
“The responses provided by farmers will be treated as valuable feedback to understand their main sources of concern,” the statement reads. – The survey will help identify the sources of administrative burden and complexity arising from CAP as well as other food and agriculture rules, both in terms of their application at national level and the associated registration and reporting obligations.
Initial results will be presented in mid-April. In parallel, interviews with farmers’ organizations will be organized to complete the picture of the situation.
– This study will provide a clearer picture of the main administrative obstacles perceived and encountered by farmers by the summer. Its results will feed into a more detailed analysis, to be published in autumn 2024, to clarify the sources of complexity for farmers: at EU, national, CAP and other requirements and policies level – emphasized in the announcement.
The EC tries to act for the benefit of farmers
– Since the beginning of the year, the Commission has been taking quick and specific actions to alleviate the pressure currently felt by EU farmers – emphasizes the EC in a statement.
It lists: – On 12 February, the Commission adopted a partial derogation from the rules on fallow land (GAEC 8) requested by farmers and many Member States. Ahead of the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Agriculture on 26 February, the Commission communicated to the Belgian Presidency a number of short- and medium-term actions as a basis for discussions and joint action with EU countries. The survey just released is one of the short-term actions announced, followed by simplification of some controls and clarification of the concept of force majeure and extraordinary circumstances. Discussions have already been held with Member States on these last two points.
The EC announces that by mid-March it will present further proposals regarding mid-term actions to be taken, as well as actions aimed at improving the position of farmers in the food supply chain.
The SURVEY is available at this link (in the upper right corner you can click on Language and select Polish):
https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/Public_Consultation_EU_Simplification_2024rs_point_of_view_2024
– Thanks to this study, the European Commission is contacting farmers directly to learn about the administrative burdens they face in their daily work. These insights will provide a clearer picture of the specific problems farmers face across the EU, enabling us to develop targeted solutions that reduce complexity and accelerate simplification. Therefore, I encourage all farmers to share their views and express their opinions in this survey – suggests Janusz Wojciechowski, EU Commissioner for Agriculture.
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