At the end of March, Brussels had asked Paris to review its plans to apply the common agricultural policy for 2023-2027, believing that they lacked climate and environmental ambition. In its response, the Ministry of Agriculture camps on its positions.
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The comment letter was severe, the answer is no less harsh. The European Commission made public on Tuesday, May 3, The response of the French ministry of agriculture to the observations made by the European executive on the implementation, by the France, of the common agricultural policy (PAC) which will apply between 2023 and 2027. On March 31, Brussels had requested to France to review its copy, believing that Its national strategic plan (PSN) – CAP national declination – lacked climate and environmental ambition. In his response, dated April 22, the Minister of Agriculture, Julien Denormandie, camps on his positions, and even disputes the commission his role of control in the application of the PAC.
“I wonder (…), writes Mr. Denormandie, on the positioning in the opportunity of the Commission, especially since the announced objective of the new CAP was to leave greater subsidiarity to the member states Compared to the previous model of conformity. “The French reluctance to green its agriculture in accordance with the principles of the CAP should lead to difficult negotiations with Brussels, with a view to the adoption of a final strategic plan, probably in early September. Emmanuel Macron’s promise to operate an ecological turn for his second mandate thus seems to come up against, as of now, the difficulty of annoying the dominant agricultural model.
“reconcile production and protection”
In its criticisms of March 31, the Commission was “concerned with the global conception of the ecoregime [the system of subsidies intended to encourage the greening of practices] as well as by the low level of environmental and climatic ambition proposed “. In particular, Brussels questioned the granting of “green” subsidies to inexpensive labels – such as “high environmental value” certification -, the end of aid for maintaining organic farming, the absence of objectives of Reduction of agent emissions, the low level of protection of water resources and the fight against agricultural pollution, the absence of objectives on areas favorable to biodiversity, the possibility of returning part of the permanent meadows, etc.
In his response, Julien Denormandie assures that the regulatory non-compliance situations noted by the Commission will be corrected if they are proven. But it refers some of the criticisms formulated to “elements of appreciation relating to the opportunity”, closing the door to significant changes. He also recalls that the French PSN “must be the subject of an analysis taking into account all the public policies deployed by France”. And some of which (recovery plan, support for forest renewal, etc.), ensures the minister, “allow us to respond to certain issues carried by the European green pact.
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