This policy, established over 60 years ago, has made our continent self-sufficient in food. It is crucial support for our farmers and the agri-food sector. But this potential should not be undermined by excessive bureaucracy.

Before presenting our proposals in detail, I want to emphasize that in the Vision for agriculture and food, we asked how to make farming more attractive for current and future generations, to ensure long-term food sovereignty.

This guided our work. Avoiding that the demands of our policy discourage young or new farmers from entering the profession, or current farmers from stopping because of time spent on bureaucracy.

I met a young farmer from the Netherlands last week who said she allowed herself one week of vacation last year. In an entire year. Moreover, studies we present today show that farmers spend an average of 7 full working days a year on administration. So, it seems that this one holiday week may be spent on filling in forms.

The need to act was clear. The requests of Member States and stakeholders for a simplified policy have been heard.

First, we will make it easier for small farmers to apply for aid thanks to a simplified payment scheme. We want Member States to make greater use of this scheme. Farmers who receive up to €2500 per year will no longer have to fill in detailed claims or provide documentation on compliance with conditions.

Small and medium-sized farmers are the backbone of our rural areas and we will better target our support towards them.

Second, we had to perform a reality check on the environmental requirements of the CAP, known as conditionalities, or GAECs for good agro-environmental conditions. Farmers we surveyed consistently identified these conditionalities as the most challenging CAP requirements.

Let me be very clear: we are in the greenest CAP ever and this direction will not change. But we see that it is difficult to impose a unique and standardized set of rules on a highly diverse sector, facing very different environmental conditions. Farmers from some Member States may feel a higher responsibility and incur higher costs for certain requirements. Similarly, the agricultural sector has gone through structural changes in recent years, which needs to be better reflected in our rules.

The Vision for agriculture and food set the course for a more territorial and tailored approach. This is what we are delivering today. Member States will have more responsibility in how they implement certain requirements through their national law, provided they pursue the same objectives.

If the CAP conditionalities overlap with existing mandatory national requirements, we will consider them equivalent, and no additional requirements will have to be set for farmers. For them, this can reduce time spent getting acquainted with different rules, while still serving the environmental objectives of the standards.

We also want to give Member States the possibility to financially compensate farmers for the possible costs and impact on their income of complying with the conditionality on wetlands and peatlands, GAEC number 2.

In the same spirit, we are introducing more flexibility in the management of permanent grassland, which is also more beneficial for the environment. For example, we are granting a longer time limit, 7 years, for the land to be classified as permanent grassland. This approach prevents farmers from unnecessary ploughing to avoid permanent grassland designation, thus preserving soil health. This also helps focus protection on environmentally most valuable grasslands, which tend to be older than 7 years.

These changes will increase the acceptance of environmental requirements linked to CAP support.

We are also removing another layer of complexity for organic farmers specifically. This is a crucial sector that we want to support. We propose to exclude organic farmers from complying with five conditionalities. We are convinced that organic regulation provides a comparative level of protection for the environment and climate.

That brings me to controls. Evidence shows that controls on farm are still a burden. Our proposals introduce the principle of a single control per year. We expect Member States to coordinate the timing of different national inspections.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This package goes beyond simplification. It is also about boosting competitiveness, particularly of small farms. It is about increasing the resilience of the sector, and it is about digitalizing national administrations.

For example, small farms can receive a lump sum of €50,000 to help them grow their business. We are working in parallel to improve access to finance for the sector.

We cannot speak about agriculture without speaking of resilience. I do not need to remind you of the increase in climate disasters in recent years. Drought, floods, storms impact yields, animals, infrastructures, and result in loss of income. Loss of perspectives. I was in Valencia to witness the impact of the DANA on agricultural areas. The CAP needs to be more responsive to manage risks and crisis.

We are giving Member States the possibility to create a national crisis intervention fund within their CAP Strategic Plan. Member States will be allowed to use CAP funding to compensate farmers affected by natural disasters, animal health diseases or plant pests. We are talking here of 3% of their annual CAP funding.

In general, the CAP needs to become more modern. Digital tools could help reduce the bulk of reporting for farmers. At the moment, farmers have to report similar information to several authorities or private partners.

The EU introduced the single charger, we want to introduce the single digital agricultural profile. We will encourage Member States to set up their system in a way that information will be collected only once and used multiple times. This is the starting work of what we want to achieve with the future CAP in terms of digitalization and modernization.

Ladies and gentlemen,

You have understood: our simplification work needs to be closely coordinated with Member States if we want it to be successful. Here, I am saying to national administrations: help me help you.

We are removing the annual performance clearance, which was a way of reporting on the financial implementation of the CAP Strategic Plans. It brought no added value to our existing, robust system to control how EU funds are spent. This deletion was called for by all Member States, so we are happy to deliver on this today.

For national administrations, we are simplifying the amending of CAP Strategic Plans. Only amendments deemed strategic will have to go through our approval process. Others will just be notified.

Change needs to reach farmers and reach them fast.

The key word of our package is pragmatism. We are significantly simplifying the CAP while keeping the foundations and objectives of the policy.

We are striking a balance between the need to have a policy fit for realities on the ground while safeguarding a certain stability for all agricultural stakeholders.

This pragmatic approach, based on dialogue and on incentives, tailored to local realities, will set the path for the future CAP.

Thank you.