At the end of November 2020, the European Union reached agreement on the reform of the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) and it is now that new aid is beginning to be implemented, when new problems are glimpsed and existing ones return.

In that agreement, Spain will receive 40,866 million euros for the period 2021/2027, which is 13.4% less (6.3 billion) than those received in the previous period (2014/2020). With these figures and the nefarious model for our interests, the Andalusian countryside, for example, will lose in these coming years some 2.8 billion euros.

New CAP 2021

One of the first actions to be taken by the Spanish Government in relation to the 2021 CAP is to reduce the number of productive regions, on which it is currently relying to redistribute some of the aid from the CAP. This promotes greater convergence despite criticism in several communities, such as Andalusia, although others such as Castilla La Mancha are in favor.

The European Commission has placed in the debate on the 2021 CAP Reform and future strategic plans a new element of conditionality of agricultural aid linked to respect for labour regulations, social coverage and the safety of workers employed on farms. The main agricultural organisations recognise that other legislation such as environmental or animal welfare legislation is also

incorporated into the current conditionality and that, in this regard, the European Union should apply social conditionality to imports from third countries where workers’ rights are regularly infringed.

Delays in CAP payments

As of today, the cap’s cumulative payments from the European Agricultural Fund for Agricultural Guarantee (EAGF) for the year 2021 – from 16 October 2020 to 31 January 2021 – amount to almost EUR 557 million, 71.42% of the total paid in the previous financial year. There are defaults that should have already been paid from the progress of the CAP in this campaign, such as the EUR 331 million in Extremadura where a significant part of the beneficiaries have not yet received any payment and all of them are pending to receive significant amounts of these aids.

In general, payment delays continue to occur, although the European Commission has approved a timetable for paying direct CAP aid to beneficiaries.

There are also areas where delays are occurring in the processing of the CAP, due to the problems that the software has had, mobility problems caused by the pandemic, etc. For these reasons, extension of the deadlines for submitting such applications is being requested.