Germany criticises new derogations to CAP environmental rules

摘要

Germany has blamed the European Commission for passing difficult decisions on lifting environmental rules of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to EU member states. On 25 July, German Agriculture Minister Cem Ozdemir critised the Commission’s proposal to delay some of the CAP’s new green requirements from 2023 to 2024. The measure aims to increase the EU’s grain production to compensate for the trade losses from Ukraine and will exempt farmers from crop rotation and fallow land requirements in 2023. The Commission estimates that the measure could bring an extra 1.5 million hectares of EU farmland into production, but said this will depend on the choices made by farmers and whether EU member states introduce the exceptions.