"A key aim has been achieved," Horst Seehofer, Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, expressed his delight today in Luxembourg about the results achieved by the Council. "We could adopt important and far-reaching conclusions of the Agriculture Council on a simplification of the cross-compliance regime during the German Presidency."
This paves the way for adopting the legislation proposed by the Commission this very year and for presenting proposals for amendments to Council regulations. "It is our aim to achieve concrete simplifications swiftly. This is vital for the decisions to have an impact on the farming sector as soon as possible, too", said the Federal Minister and President-in-Office of the Council of the European Union. He expressly thanked EU Commissioner Fischer-Boel for the commitment she showed in achieving a simplification of the cross-compliance regime. "Together we took a first big step towards simplification and a proper and pragmatic implementation of the rules that are of central importance for farming," the Minister added.
Important proposals are
The coherence and practicability of inspection rules are also to be enhanced in the rules of EU specialised law that are relevant for cross-compliance. This will ease the strain on farmers further in the long run.
The adoption of the conclusions confirmed that the simplification of rules is a major and serious concern for all stakeholders. We succeeded in taking a first and joint step at EU level with regard to cross-compliance. What has been achieved and the continuation of the cross-compliance process send a key and positive signal for other projects.
For further information on the programme of the German EU Council Presidency, please go to www.bmelv.de.
