Farmers across Europe have long been calling for relief from excessive red tape that keeps them away from their fields and animals, and today, the European Parliament's Agriculture and Rural Development Committee took an important step in answering that call by backing a CAP simplification reform.

ECR MEP Veronika Vrecionová, Chair of the Committee and ECR shadow rapporteur for the file, welcomed the vote as a “much-needed move to put trust back into the Common Agricultural Policy and let farmers focus on farming, not on filling in forms.”

The proposal raises the ceiling for lump-sum support to small farmers and exempts farms under ten hectares from complex conditionality controls, cutting unnecessary bureaucracy for the two-thirds of EU farms that are smallholdings.

It also gives Member States more flexibility in implementing environmental schemes, clarifying permanent grassland rules and reducing on-farm controls through smarter, risk-based checks.

Ms Vrecionová said:

“This is about listening to farmers and responding to their needs. They want clear, fair and workable rules, not endless paperwork. Simplification is essential to ensure that environmental requirements are effective without being disproportionate. This reform can be a good beginning and, if adopted swiftly, a true Christmas gift for our farmers.”

The ECR Group has also backed measures to encourage generational renewal by extending start-up support for young and small farmers and raising the aid ceiling.

Ms Vrecionová added:

“There is still more to be done. But today’s vote shows that Parliament can act in farmers’ interest and bring real, practical improvements.”

The plenary vote on the CAP simplification reform will take place on 7 October in Strasbourg, with a final vote following trilogue negotiations expected in mid-November. The ECR Group stands ready to work for swift adoption and implementation of the package to deliver simpler, fairer rules without delay.