European Union raises farmers' CAP advance ceiling up to 70%

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 17 - The 'tractor' emergency is not yet behind us and Brussels knows it.
    And so it continues to lend a hand to European farmers, before starting the actual discussions to reform the post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), a proposal on which is expected from the European Commission by next summer.
    A deadline that is close but not too close, which today forces Brussels 'in the meantime' to raise the ceiling of advances that Member States can grant to farmers in need of "liquidity".
    From 16 October, when the measures will actually be in force, EU farmers will be able to receive up to 70% of their direct payments in advance, compared to the current 50%, while advance payments for interventions based on area and animals under the rural development fund can be increased up to 85%, instead of the current 75%.
    The Commission said this measure is designed to meet the liquidity needs of European farmers, which have been aggravated by the "extreme weather events" that have had an impact on yields in recent years, as well as high interest rates on European financial markets and the high prices of agricultural inputs and raw materials.
    Several member states voiced the need for such a move to respond to these challenges and "provide an economic safety net for EU farmers"- the European executive explains in a note.
    It is an intervention that Italy's Coldiretti welcomes as "necessary" to support agricultural companies in difficulty due, in particular, to "continued climate change and the increase in production costs and with still high bank rates".
    In Brussels, the MEPs of the European Parliament's agriculture committee (Agri), Dario Nardella and Stefano Bonaccini, consider it a "strong signal" in support of the sector. After having granted greater flexibility for compliance with environmental constraints and the reduction of bureaucracy through a mini reform of the CAP launched in recent months, the increase in the ceiling on advances of CAP funds announced today is not the only ceiling that Brussels aims to raise and on which it is working upon.
    In mid-July, the European Commission launched a consultation with member states to increase the so-called 'de minimis' aid, the funds that each country can grant to each farm without prior approval from Brussels, from 25,000 to 37,000 euros.
    A spokesperson for the executive confirmed that the Commission intends to adopt "the amendments to the 'de minimis' regulation on agriculture as soon as possible, taking into account the feedback received from member states and interested parties" that have been ongoing in recent weeks.
    Brussels proposes to raise the aid ceiling to 37,000 euros in three years "to take inflation into account" and to calculate the maximum amount over a period of three years, instead of three financial years, as is currently the case.
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    (ANSA).