EU Common Agricultural Policy reform negotiations

The European Parliament and the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union are negotiating the definition of an ‘active farmer’ for future iterations of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Initial discussions in the European Parliament focused on establishing objective, non-discriminatory criteria to ensure subsidies reach individuals genuinely managing agricultural holdings. Proposed mechanisms included a ‘negative list’ to exclude entities where agriculture is merely a marginal activity.

Following these debates, the Irish Presidency proposed a specific framework for the post-2027 period. This proposal grants member states flexibility to use criteria such as income levels, labor, and registration in agricultural registries to determine eligibility. To minimize administrative burdens, the proposal suggests that farmers receiving up to 5,000 euros in previous subsidies could be automatically recognized as active. Additionally, the framework aims to align with World Trade Organization obligations by defining agricultural activity to include both production and land maintenance, potentially qualifying measures for the WTO ‘Green Box’ category.