The Diplomat
The European Commission yesterday gave the go-ahead to Spain’s national strategic plan for how it will implement the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which will come into force next year and whose formal adoption has yet to complete a number of formalities.
“The Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Janusz Wojciechowski, has just confirmed that we are part of the first group of countries whose negotiation of the CAP strategic plan has been concluded with the European Commission,” said the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, in a Twitter post yesterday afternoon.
In addition to the Spanish plan, the EU executive gave the go-ahead to the plans of Portugal, Poland, Denmark and France during the Council of EU Agriculture Ministers, reports Europa Press.
Following the conclusion of negotiations between Spain and the EU executive on the strategic plan and political approval, Brussels will now have to proceed with the approval process, which will take around six weeks, meaning that adoption should take place at the beginning of September.
Brussels has accepted the plan submitted by Spain after it has corrected and revised certain points and submitted the final referral. Among the latest modifications introduced for the approval of the plan, the European Commission has not considered the inclusion of sunflower and rapeseed in the protein plan, the Spanish proposal is to allocate the 45 million euros planned for these crops and to increase the basic income aid for the regions where they are produced.
“This will make it easier for our farmers and livestock farmers to plan their crops and production for the coming season,” the minister said in a statement.
