Payments to EU farmers to get better targeted

During the course of the 3161st Council meeting, held last week in Brussels,  agriculture ministers discussed the reform of payments for farmers as part of the broader discussion on the reform of the EU's common agricultural policy. According to the most recent updates by the press service of the Council of the EU, one of the key tasks of the reform will be to ensure that payments are well targeted and spend efficiently.
Given the concerns raised  over the future of farming, as only 6 % of all farmers across the EU are under the age of 35 years, ministers said that there is the necessity to increase support  to "young farmers" and "small farmers”. As delegations presented different views regarding an increased support to  farmers working in specific sectors or regions in difficulty, Presidency concluded that the Commission proposal would strike a balance.
As some payments have been made for companies whose  main activity was not farming, ministers examined the Commission’s proposals to restrict payments to "active farmers" with. In their view, this is a simpler approach and easier to implement in practice.

Source: The Council of the EU