EU leaders meeting in the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on Monday warned that that Europe's farmers stand to lose out unless the details of Common Agriculture Policy reform are worked out as a matter of urgency. Agriculture ministers in the council were meeting ahead of informal Trilogue negotiations taking place on Tuesday.

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The three EU legislative bodies reached a broad agreement on the terms of CAP reform in June, before the end of the Irish presidency of the bloc. However, members of the EU Commission, Council and Parliament now need agree to changes on the finer points of CAP reform before a self-set deadline of 30th September.

Parliamentarians and members of the Council representing member states attempted to move forward on reforms at the meeting on Tuesday, where they negotiated the last remaining areas of disharmony. The main areas that still require attention are the issues of capping payments and rates of degressivity (the ceiling on subsidy payments and gradual reductions in allowances to those claiming large payments), co-funding and the flexibility of Pillar Two (transference of funds between direct payments – Pillar One – and the rural development pillar) .

These areas relate to the multi-annual financial framework (MMF: the EU budget), which was also established in June. The Council said on Monday that discussion on proposals relating to the single common market organisation (CMO) are now closed.

In its Monday meeting, the Council moved towards the Parliamentary position on degressivity by supporting a depreciation rate of 5 percent for amounts above €150,000, and the same for redistributive payments. The Council said degressivity should apply only to the basic payment or the single area payment.

Agriculture Ministers also supported Parliamentary calls to increase the rate of co-financing for less developed regions, outermost regions and smaller Aegean islands to 85 percent (on a voluntary basis). However, the ministers added, "This constitutes a major additional concession from the Council side on the clear understanding that all other requests from the Parliament will be dropped and that an overall agreement is now concluded on CAP reform."

On Tuesday, EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos appealed to all parties to ensure that the final meetings run smoothly, and not to let talks break down at this late stage. He said to fellow negotiators that consequences and costs for farmers could be "potentially very high if we are not able to reach an agreement."

Speaking from Brussels, the Commissioner said, "We have to have a conclusion this week in order to complete the entire legislative package. I will use all the means at my disposal to convince the co-legislators to arrive at a conclusion."

Implementation of the reforms is already set to be delayed, which has necessitated a staggered introduction of the new policy frameworks, beginning in January, when the CAP package was due to change. Ciolos is afraid that any further delays could impact upon farmers' payments, especially those coming from the rural development pot, such as funding for vital agri-environment work.  

Paolo de Castro, chair of the Parliament Agriculture Committee, said last week that, even if a final agreement is not reached this week, MEPs will still be obliged to vote on the CAP package on 30th September.