Parliament pushes through changes to rules on grassland despite left-wing opposition

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A group of left-wing Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), on Tuesday (23 April) failed to block the Commission’s proposal to relax farmers’ obligation to preserve grassland areas, which they claimed would create environmental risks.

The European Parliament has given the final green light to the Commission’s proposal to change the first Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAECs), which requires farmers to maintain a certain area of permanent grassland to receive payments under the bloc’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

With 417 votes in favour, 162 against, and 25 abstentions, MEPs on Tuesday backed the EU executive’s initiative to allow more flexibility in implementing the requirement.

The original GAEC 1 obliged EU farmers to keep the area of permanent grassland unchanged compared to the 2018 reference year, as this practice enriches soils, sequesters carbon, and promotes biodiversity.

However, member states will now be allowed to change the reference year once during the 2023-2027 CAP period “where such adjustment is necessary due to structural changes in the farming systems.”

The Commission’s proposed changes on GAEC 1 come in response to EU-wide farmer demonstrations against the administrative and economic burden associated with the new environmental rules.

The Greens and Left groups, together with several socialist MEPs, tried but failed to prevent approval of the delegated regulation, which they said would not help farmers but create distortions between member states and pose environmental risks.

“Allowing a change of the reference year (…) would introduce a distortion between those Member States [that choose to do so] and those that have made provisions to incentivise farmers to maintain pasture areas,” reads the motion for a resolution presented last week by the leftist bloc.

“This will not solve the problem of farm incomes,” said French MEP Christophe Clergeau, responsible for agriculture and environment in the Socialists and Democrats group, adding that the changes would undermine natural carbon sinks.

France has been one of the most vocal proponents of changes to GAEC 1, arguing that the requirements are too complex to comply with.

The relaxation of the rules on permanent grasslands is part of a wider “simplification package” on the EU’s farming policy to be voted on tomorrow, which includes changes to six of the nine GAECs and has been slammed by environmental NGOs.

[Edited by Rajnish Singh ]