Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council - A simplified CAP for Europe - A success for all
Date: 2009-03-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: common agricultural policy, farming sector, rural development, simplification of formalities

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 18.3.2009 
COM(2009) 128 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 

A simplified CAP for Europe - a success for all 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

The Commission agenda for a simpler CAP................................................................ 3 

Achievements since 2005............................................................................................. 3 

The Common Agricultural Policy Simplification Action Plan .................................... 7 

Special Focus ............................................................................................................... 9 

Outlook....................................................................................................................... 11 

Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 13 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 

A simplified CAP for Europe - a success for all 

1. 

THE COMMISSION AGENDA FOR A SIMPLER CAP 

Since  the  beginning  of  its  mandate,  this  Commission  has  striven  for  a  simpler 
Common  Agricultural Policy (CAP)1.  Farmers and other economic  operators in the 
agricultural  sector  should  be  relieved  from  red-tape  and  requirements  that  are  not 
necessary to  reach political objectives and ensure proper management  of taxpayers' 
money. Simplifying the CAP is essential to making our agricultural economy more 
competitive, preserving and creating jobs and contributing to a sound development of 
our rural areas. This is why a simplified CAP is a success for all. 

The  Commission  presented  in  2005  a  Communication  on  Simplification  and  Better 
Regulation  for  the  Common  Agricultural  Policy  (CAP).  This  set  out  an  ambitious 
programme  for  a  significant  simplification  of  the  CAP.  The  programme  and  its 
implementation  are  fully  embedded  in  the  overall  Commission  strategy  on  Better 
Regulation2 and in particular the Simplification Rolling Programme and the Action 
Programme for Reducing Administrative Burden. 

In the  meantime  an impressive number  of CAP-related simplification projects have 
been completed. It is now timely and appropriate to take stock and look at what has 
been accomplished. This communication will highlight the activities that have been 
carried  out  since  2005,  and  give  indications  of  the  resulting  reduction  in 
administrative burden for farmers and administrations3. Special attention will be paid 
to  the  rolling  Simplification  Action  Plan,  the  single  CMO,  the  2007  study  on 
administrative  burden  for  farms  and  the  results  of  the  Health  Check  process.  To 
conclude,  the  communication  will  explore  paths  to  further  simplification  actions  in 
the future. 

2. 

ACHIEVEMENTS SINCE 2005 

In 2005, the European Commission committed to taking on a series of activities that 
can be qualified as either technical or policy simplification4. 

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4 

COM(2005) 509, 19.10.2005. 
Third Strategic Review of Better Regulation in the European Union - COM(2009) 15, 28.1.2009. 
In general,  the  figures used  in  this  communication  stem  from  preliminary  results  of  the  measurement 
carried  out  as  well  as  the  recommendations  put  forward  in  the  context  of  the  Action  Programme  for 
Reducing  Administrative  Burden.  According  to  the  standard  cost  model,  used  in  that  exercise, 
administrative burden is established on the basis of the cost of complying with information obligations 
resulting from EU legislation as well as related national transposition or implementation measures. 
technical  simplification  (i.e.  within  a  constant  policy  framework)  implies  revision  of  the  legal 
framework,  administrative  procedures  and  management  mechanisms  to  achieve  streamlining  and 
greater  cost-effectiveness  and  attain  existing  policy  objectives  more  effectively,  without  changing  the 
underlying policies; 

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2.1. 

Technical simplification  

2.1.1.  Cleaning up agricultural rules 

Identification and elimination of obsolete Council and Commission legal acts is done 
continuously, as for example in the milk sector5. When new legal acts are adopted, 
existing  acts  are  repealed.  Other  acts  that  remained  in  existence  without  serving  a 
purpose have been declared defunct via a declaration of obsolescence in 20066 and at 
the start of this year7, covering a total of almost 300 obsolete acts. Later this year, a 
proposal to repeal a number of obsolete Council acts will be adopted. 

2.1.2.  A Single CMO regulation 

On  22  October  2007,  the  Council  adopted  Regulation  (EC)  No 1234/20078  also 
known as the single CMO. This regulation groups together all the sectoral common 
organisations of the market and replaces 45 Council Acts. More details on the single 
CMO may be found in paragraph 4.1. 

2.1.3. 

State aids 

In 2006 and 2007, the Commission modified and streamlined its policy on state aid 
in  the  agricultural  sector.  Apart  from  the  revised  state  aid  guidelines9  and  the 
agricultural  Block  Exemption  Regulation10,  the  Commission  adopted  a  new  de 
minimis  Regulation11  increasing  the  de  minimis  threshold  of  support  that  can  be 
given by Member States in the agricultural sector. When the measure complies with 
the conditions set out in the de minimis regulation, it is not considered a state aid and 
therefore no notification is required. These changes led to a reduction of the number 
of relevant legal instruments from six to three.  

2.1.4.  Administrative costs 

In 2006, the Commission launched a study to measure the administrative burden for 
farms  arising  from  the  2003  CAP  reform.  The  final  results  of  the  study  were 
published in November 2007. More details on this study may be found in paragraph 
4.2. 

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‘policy simplification’ reduces complexity through improvements to the agricultural support and rural 
development  policy  instruments.  It  may  be  described  as  ‘policy  development  with  simplification 
implications’. 
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1081/2008 (OJ L 296, 5.11.2008, p. 4). 
OJ C 148, 24.6.2006. 
OJ C 30, 6.2.2009. 
Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1234/2007  of  22  October  2007  establishing  a  common  organisation  of 
agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products (OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, 
p. 1). 
OJ C 319, 27.12.2006, p. 1. 
Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 of 15 December 2006 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the 
Treaty  to  State  aid  to  small  and  medium-sized  enterprises  active  in  the  production  of  agricultural 
products and amending Regulation (EC) No 70/2001 (OJ L 358, 16.12.2006, p. 3). 
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1535/2007 of 20 December 2007 on the application of Articles 87 and 
88 of the EC Treaty to de minimis aid in the sector of agricultural production (OJ L 337, 21.12.2007, 
p. 35). 

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2.1.5. 

Sharing best practices 

For  the  purpose  of  exchanging  views  on  simplification  and  sharing  ideas  and 
experiences,  several  platforms  were  established.  First  of  all,  an  expert  group  of 
national simplification experts was set up. This group meets on average around three 
times per year. A number of Member States have used this platform to present and 
discuss national simplification initiatives. 

Stakeholders  and  representatives  of  the  agricultural  sector  and  industry  have 
participated in several meetings of the advisory group on simplification.  

The  conference  on  simplification  of  the  Common  Agricultural  Policy,  held  in 
October  2006,  as  well  as  the  simplification  seminar  organised  in  October  2007, 
offered  a  broad  platform  for  discussion  and  exchange  of  experiences  between  all 
parties involved in the implementation of the CAP. 

2.2. 

Policy related actions 

2.2.1. 

Sugar CMO reform 

The sugar reform, formally adopted in the beginning of 2006, resulted in a tangible 
simplification of the system. It merged the various quota types into one single quota 
system,  included  the  budget  for  sugar-aid  into  the  envelope  of  the  Single  Payment 
Scheme and replaced intervention by private storage.  

2.2.2. 

Single Payment Scheme 

In  its  first  years  of  existence,  the  Single  Payment  Scheme  has  been  adapted  on 
several  occasions  with  a  view  to  simplifying  its  functioning  and  making  it  more 
"farmer  friendly".  This  was  achieved  by  for  example  the  inclusion  of  landscape 
elements (such as hedges and walls) into the surface eligible for direct support and 
several modifications following the adoption of the cross-compliance report12. 

2.2.3.  Fruit and vegetables and wine sector 

Reforms  in  the  fruit  and  vegetable  sector  as  well  as  in  the  wine  sector  have  made 
rules  simpler.  Most  particularly,  the  fact  that  these  sectors  are  now  included  in  the 
Single  Payment  Scheme  results  in  a  more  homogeneous  system  of  direct  income 
support.  

The  integration  into  the  Single  Payment  Scheme  of  the  fruit  and  vegetables  sector 
may lead to a reduction of administrative burden to farms of EUR 2.2 million. 

Moreover,  these  reforms  provided  increased  flexibility  in  the  implementation  of 
policy through the use of programming, managed by either producer organisations in 
the fruit and vegetables sector or by Member States for the wine sector. 

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COM (2007) 147, 29.3.2007. 

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2.2.4. 

Impact assessment and evaluation 

During the past years, the instrument of impact assessment became an indispensable 
tool  for  preparing  important  reforms  in  the  agricultural  sector  and  comprises 
substantial involvement of stakeholders at an early stage. The impact assessment tool 
allows  for  an  ex  ante  assessment  of  administrative  costs,  identifying  and  assessing 
problems,  formulating  solutions  and  comparing  the  impact  of  these  solutions.  This 
renders the legislative process more transparent. The impact assessment process also 
improves the quality of the proposal and the quality of the debate on the proposal. 

Since 2005, 8 impact assessments have been carried out for all significant reforms of 
the CAP, as for example for the wine and fruit and vegetables reform and the Health 
Check13. 

2.3. 

Processes 

2.3.1. 

Stakeholder consultation, screening, Action Plan 

The suggestions received from Member States authorities and stakeholders that could 
be  classified  as  technical  simplification  were  included  in  the  newly  created  rolling 
Simplification Action Plan. This Action Plan allows for the planning and monitoring 
of simplification activities in the CAP and currently contains around 50 projects. 

Since  2005,  more  than  200  suggestions  for  simplification  of  the  CAP  have  been 
received. 

2.3.2.  Conference 

On  3  and  4  October  2006,  an  international  conference  on  simplification  of  the 
Common Agricultural Policy was organised by the Commission.  

Representatives  from  various  backgrounds  and  interests,  farmers,  operators, 
processing  industry,  academics  and  Member  States'  authorities,  participated  and 
contributed to the debate on simplification and showed that there was a political will 
to simplify the CAP, a process in which all need to be involved to ensure success. 

A  concrete  project  resulting  from  the  conference  concerned  the  use  of  export 
certificates  which  was  taken  up  by  the  Commission.  More  details  may  be  found  in 
Chapter 3. 

2.3.3. 

Internal Training 

Prevention is better than cure, for legal acts as well. Internal training on legislative 
drafting  has  been,  and  will  continue  to  be  provided  to  staff  members  involved  in 
drafting  legislative  proposals.  The  objective  of  the  course  is  to  ensure  clear  and 
simple texts from the start of the legislative process. 

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For additional information on impact assessment: http://ec.europa.eu/governance/impact/index_en.htm. 

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2.3.4. 

IT systems 

Information  technology  is  an  important  element  in  simplification  and  reducing 
administrative  burdens.  Considerable  progress  has  been  made  in  this  context.  A 
system  to  facilitate  the  electronic  exchange  of  information  between  Commission 
services  and  Member  States,  ISAMM  (Information  System  for  Agricultural  Market 
Management  and  Monitoring)  is  in  its  final  development  phase.  A  pilot  project  is 
currently  up  and  running  and  module  one  of  the  system  should  become  fully 
operational by summer 2009. 

3. 

THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY SIMPLIFICATION ACTION PLAN 

During the 2006 conference, the first version of the "rolling" Simplification Action 
Plan was presented. It set out 20 projects for technical simplification of the CAP. The 
plan  has  evolved  to  around  50  projects  by  January  200914  of  which  43  have  been 
implemented.  The  projects  taken  up  in  the  action  plan  were  based  on  suggestions 
from Member States, stakeholders, farmers' organisations, processors as well as from 
ideas generated within the Commission services. 

The  following  projects  deserve  to  be  explained  in  greater  detail  as  they  are  good 
examples for the positive impact simplification can have on operators and/or farmers. 

3.1. 

Beef export licences 

The Commission adopted in 2007 a sector specific simplification measure in the beef 
and  veal  sector.  Exports  in  this  sector  with  or  without  an  export  refund  used  to  be 
accompanied  by  a  licence.  While  it  is  essential  to  continue  monitoring  trade  in 
products exported with a refund, it no longer appeared necessary to monitor exports 
of goods traded without a refund. Therefore, the Commission removed the obligation 
to present an export licence for such exports. 

Both exporting companies and national authorities are benefiting from this measure 
as it means less paperwork and administrative and control work. 

To  illustrate,  this  measure  reduces  the  costs  of  exporting  beef  by  an  average  of 
around EUR 16 per tonne. In addition, it removes red tape and improves the business 
environment. 

3.2. 

Egg labelling 

In  2007  the  European  Commission  adopted  a  new  set  of  detailed  rules  concerning 
marketing standards of eggs and in particular concerning the labelling of eggs. These 
rules  create  a  modern,  transparent  legal  environment  without  weakening  the 
information and protection of consumers.  

For  example,  it  is  no  longer  required  to  grade  eggs  that  are  used  directly  by  the 
industry.  The  new  rules  allow  eggs  to  be  collected,  graded,  marked  and  packed 

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For further information: http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/index_en.htm. 

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within 10 days of lay, rather than being collected every third working day. This helps 
the industry organise itself better, which is especially useful at busy times of year.  

The new flexibility reduces costs for producers and the downstream sector as well as 
control costs for Member States. 

3.3. 

10-month rule 

Article 44(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 stated that parcels declared 
by a farmer for direct payments have to be at the farmer's disposal for a period of at 
least 10 months. 

This provision has been abolished and the 10-month period replaced by a single date, 
which  may  be  determined  by  the  Member  State.  This  means  that  farmers  are  no 
longer required to keep land at their disposal for 10 months to receive support. They 
gain  greater  flexibility  in  their  farm  management  and  in  responding  to  market 
developments.  

The abolition of the 10-month rule is likely to lead to a reduction in administrative 
burden for farms of around EUR 19 million. 

3.4. 

Import-export licences  

In June 2008, the Commission eliminated the vast majority of licence obligations in 
the agricultural sector. For imports, licence requirements were reduced from 500 to 
65 and for exports, only 43 requirements remain15. In addition the legal framework 
for  the  remaining  licence  requirements  has  been  simplified  and  now  consists  of  a 
single  regulation  (except  in  the  case  of  export  refunds  and  tariff  rate  quotas). 
It governs  all  aspects  of  licences,  clearly  identifies  all  the  products  for  which  a 
licence is required and lays down the rules pertaining to the period of validity of the 
licence as well as the level of security. 

The advantages for operators (importers and exporters) are: 

•  they  will  save  on  the  administrative  costs  of  handling  the  paperwork  associated 

with imports or exports; 

•  they  will  no  longer  incur  the  costs  of  depositing  (and  recovering)  licence 

securities. 

For  national  administrations,  the  savings  are  clear  as  less  administrative  work  and 
checking is required. 

This  measure  is  likely  to  reduce  the  overall  burden  associated  with  licences  to 
operators by approximately EUR 7.4 million. 

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Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No 514/2008  of  9 June  2008  amending  Regulation  (EC)  No 376/2008 
laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of import and export licences and 
advance fixing certificates for agricultural products (OJ L 150, 10.6.2008, p. 7). 

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3.5.  Marketing standards fruit and vegetables 

As part of the reform of the fruit and vegetable sector, the Commission, against some 
reluctance of a number of Member States, reduced the number of specific marketing 
standards from 36 to 10 (apples, citrus fruit, kiwifruit, lettuces and endives, peaches 
and  nectarines,  pears,  strawberries,  sweet  peppers,  table  grapes  and  tomatoes), 
rationalised the associated checking operations and established a general marketing 
standard covering most fruit and vegetables.  

The 26  repealed  standards represent 25% of the trade in fresh fruit and vegetables. 
As  a  result  of  this  measure,  operators  no  longer  face  compliance  costs  except  for 
ensuring  that  their  products  are  of  sound,  fair  and  marketable  quality  and  national 
authorities no longer have to carry out controls for these 26 specific standards. 

3.6. 

Cross-compliance 

Even  though  the  study  on  administrative  burden  on  farms  concluded  that  the 
administrative  cost  accruing  from  cross-compliance  is  relatively  low,  i.e.  between 
0.3% and 4.3% of the overall burden, farmers nevertheless see cross-compliance as 
an irritant. 

To reduce the perceived discomfort and to ease the system, the Commission allowed 
advance notice for on-the-spot checks. Furthermore, farmers are no longer faced with 
a  reduction  of  their  payments  if  their  infringement  is  of  minor  importance  or  the 
reduction would be less than the de minimis limit of EUR 100. 

These  improvements  allow  farmers  to  better  plan  their  activities,  demand  less 
paperwork to remedy small infringements and remove the threat to be penalised for 
trivial infractions. The measure also simplifies the task of national administrations. 

Providing  advance  notice  for  on-the-spot  checks  may  lead  to  a  reduction  in 
administrative burden to farms of up to EUR 5.7 million. 

4. 

SPECIAL FOCUS 

In  the  next  section,  three  CAP  simplification  activities  of  key  importance  are 
described  in  further  detail.  These  projects  relate  to  legislative  simplification, 
administrative burdens and policy simplification and have a cross-sector impact: the 
single CMO, the study on administrative burden and the Health Check. 

4.1. 

Single CMO 

An important accomplishment within the context of legislative simplification of the 
CAP  was  the  adoption  in  2007  of  the  Council  Regulation  establishing  a  common 
organisation  of  agricultural  markets8,  commonly  referred  to  as  the  Single  CMO 
Regulation. 

Given its technical character, the single CMO was not about changing the underlying 
policy  but  harmonising  provisions,  thereby  making  CAP  rules  easier  to  navigate, 
slimmer, more accessible and less burdensome to apply. 

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The  new  regulation  groups  together  and  replaces  all  21  individual  common 
organisations of the market into one single regulation, thereby reducing the number 
of articles from around 920 to around 230 and repealing a total of 78 Council acts16. 

On  a  macro  level,  the  adoption  of  the  single  CMO  has  substantially  reduced  the 
number  of  acts  governing  the  CAP  which  is  now  mainly  regulated  by  only  4  legal 
acts,  namely  the  regulations  on  Direct  Payments,  the  single  CMO,  Rural 
Development and the Financing of the CAP.  

Finally,  the  single  CMO  facilitates  further  simplification  and  reduction  of 
administrative burden at the level of Commission implementing provisions. 

4.2. 

Study on Administrative Burden 

Within the context of the Action Programme for reducing Administrative Burdens, a 
study  "assessing  the  administrative  burden  on  farms  arising  from  CAP"  was 
published17 at the end of 2007. This study, carried out in Denmark, Germany, France, 
Ireland and Italy, provides an assessment of the administrative costs associated with 
the Single Payment Scheme in 2006 and presents an outlook on future developments. 

The  study  identifies  several  elements  with  an  impact  on  the  administrative  burdens 
on farms.  

The  first  element  concerns  Member  States'  transposition  of  the  CAP  regulation  on 
direct payments. This relates for example to the choices they have made with regard 
to  the  SPS  model  (historic,  regional,  hybrid)  as  well  as  to  whether  they  chose  to 
decouple  fully  or  maintain  certain  elements  coupled.  Other  factors  are  the  way  the 
application procedure is set up and the system for transferring entitlements.  

According  to  suggestions  put  forward  in  the  context  of  the  Action  Programme  for 
Reducing Administrative Burden, Member States could, for example, via the use of 
information  technology  in  all  Member  States  achieve  a  further  reduction  of 
administrative burden on farms by more than EUR 400 million. 

Other  aspects  that  impact  on  the  level  of  administrative  burden  are  the  national 
business  culture,  for  example  the  use  of  external  consultants,  and  structural 
differences, such as farm size and differentiation in production. 

The  results  of  the  study  indicate  that  administrative  burden  to  farms  will  decrease 
substantially.  One  factor  is  the  learning  curve  effect  and  the  disappearance  of  the 
administrative  costs  associated  with  the  start-up  of  the  Single  Payment  Scheme18. 
The changes decided in the Health Check are another important reason. 

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After  inclusion  of  the  provisions  for  fruit  and  vegetables,  by  means  of  Council  Regulation  (EC) 
No 361/2008 (OJ L 121, 7.5.2008, p. 1). 
http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/analysis/external/burden/index_en.htm. 
A  positive  learning  curve  and  the  disappearance  of  start-up  cost  will  reduce  administrative  burden  to 
farms by over EUR 900 million. 

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4.3. 

Health Check 

Simplification was one of the major drivers behind the Commission's Health Check 
proposals19. The Health Check simplifies the single payment scheme provisions and 
renders the 2003 CAP reform more efficient. 

One  of  the  main  simplification  elements  in  the  Health  Check  consists  of  further 
decoupling  and  abolishing  of  several  schemes,  such  as  payments  for  energy  crops 
and durum wheat, as well as the disposal scheme for cream, butter and concentrated 
butter.  As  the  study  on  administrative  burden20  indicates,  coupled  support  schemes 
give  rise  to  additional  administrative  burden  for  farmers.  Further  decoupling  leads 
therefore automatically to a reduction of such burden.  

The Health Check also simplified the rules on the modulation franchise as well as the 
provisions  concerning  the  functioning  of  the  National  Reserve  and  payment 
entitlements that originate from that reserve. 

Moreover,  the  rules  on  set-aside  are  abolished  and  the  conditions  applicable  to  the 
transfer of payment entitlements are simplified. 

The Health Check is likely to lead to a reduction in administrative burden to farms of 
around EUR 135 million as result of abolishing the special schemes for energy crops, 
crop  area  payment,  durum  wheat,  nuts  and  starch potatoes. Moreover, the abolition 
of  set-aside  is  estimated  to  reduce  administrative  burden  to  farms  by  EUR 
146 million. 

5. 

OUTLOOK 

The  progress  made  over  recent  years  will  by  no  means  lead  to  a  standstill  of 
simplification  activities  for  the  agricultural  sector.  Simplification  and  reduction  of 
unnecessary  administrative  burden  are  permanent  tasks  that  do  not  take  care  of 
themselves.  To  keep  the  momentum  going  and  to  create  an  environment  which 
establishes  appropriate  conditions  for  further  simplification  of  the  CAP,  the 
following elements and projects are scheduled for the coming years. 

5.1. 

Common Starting date 

The start of application of legislative modifications in the CAP is generally centred 
on fixed dates, such as the beginning of the marketing year. To further facilitate an 
easier  monitoring  of  policy  and  policy  changes  as  well  as  anticipating  them,  the 
possible introduction of common starting dates21 for legislative changes in the CAP 
will be further examined. 

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COM(2008) 306, 20.5. 2008. 
See paragraph 4.2. 
See also COM(2009) 15. 

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5.2. 

Cross-compliance 

At  present,  cross-compliance  rules  are  laid  down  in  various  legal  acts.  The  idea  of 
developing a proposal for one single legal act on cross-compliance  by harmonising 
the current rules will be further evaluated.  

5.3. 

Communications 

The Commission will endeavour to simplify and harmonise the legal framework for 
communication  and  conservation  of  information  and  documents  in  the  context  of 
shared  management  of  the  CAP.  The  new  framework  could  eventually  apply  to  all 
communications of the CAP other than communication of financial information and, 
by  means  of  information  technology,  to  all  systems  in  place  in  this  context.  These 
systems may be managed by the European Commission or the competent authorities 
of  the  Member  States.  What's  more,  the  new  legal  framework  could  include 
provision for access to the information collected for all authorities concerned and the 
public. 

5.4. 

"Harvest Experience" 

As from 2010, a training programme will be set up for officials from the Directorate 
General  for  Agriculture  and  Rural  Development  which  involves  a  farm  stay.  The 
purpose of this programme is to further deepen their understanding of the challenges 
the  sector  faces.  This  may  lead  to  policies  that  connect  even  better  to  the  practical 
situation  of  European  farmers.  The  exact  details  of  the  programme  are  under 
consideration. 

5.5. 

Quality Policy 

The green paper  on agricultural product quality was launched on 15 October 2008. 
This green paper initiates a broad public consultation on quality policy and addresses 
the issue of simplification and reduction of administrative burden, in particular with 
regard  to  marketing  standards,  certification  schemes  and  geographical  indication 
systems. 

Following  the  public  consultation,  the  Commission  will  issue  a  Communication  in 
May  2009.  Some  of  the  options  included  in  the  Communication  could  have  an 
important impact in terms of simplification and administrative burden reduction. 

5.6. 

Continuation of the Action Plan 

The  Action  Plan  will  continue  to  "roll"  and  new  projects  will  be  added  and 
implemented. One of these new projects concerns the hops sector. 

At  the  moment,  hops  growers  are  obliged  to  register  production  contracts.  This 
registration  allows  for  obtaining  essential  market  information  and  creates  a  certain 
level  of  transparency  in  the  market.  At  the  same  time  it  represents  a  burdensome 
activity  for  growers  and  administrations.  With  a  view 
these 
administrative burdens, alternatives for generating market data in the hops sector will 
be evaluated. Depending on the outcome of the evaluation, appropriate proposals will 
be made.  

to  reducing 

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5.7. 

Regular revision 

The Commission will look into the possibility of performing a more regular review 
of  legislation  whereby  acts  of  a  certain  age  could  be  revised.  This  could  involve 
analysing  if  existing  provisions  should  be  maintained  and,  if  so,  in  which  format. 
Consequently,  the  new  legal  act  would  be  up  to  date  and  in  line  with  the  latest 
principles of legal drafting.  

5.8. 

Language use and accessibility of legal texts 

The language used in legal acts may limit their accessibility for ordinary users. The 
Commission  will  continue,  by  assessing  its  use  of  language  and  the  possibility  of 
providing training on writing skills, to render legal acts easier to read.  

5.9. 

Continuation of sharing best practices 

The  Commission  will  continue  organising  meetings  with  Member  States  and 
stakeholders to discuss and further develop activities on simplification of the CAP. It 
is also in this context that possibilities for further simplification of cross-compliance 
may be elaborated.  

6. 

CONCLUSION 

The results of the simplification process show that the Commission's efforts to move 
towards  a  simpler  CAP  have  been  remarkably successful. Its active continuation in 
the future is a clear sign of the Commission's commitment to further simplification. 
On the basis of first results of the measurement exercise22 one can realistically expect 
the objective of a 25% reduction of administrative burden in 2012 to be met. This is 
all  the  more  impressive  as  the  CAP  exists  in  a  dynamic  political  environment  with 
various and often divergent financial and political interests, against the background 
of a wide range of farming cultures and structures. Furthermore, as the CAP concerns 
the allocation of financial resources, it is inevitably subject to tough management and 
control rules to protect the integrity of the EU budget, i.e. taxpayer’s money.  

CAP simplification creates business conditions in which farmers and other economic 
operators are less burdened by administrative and compliance costs and renders the 
European  farming  community  more  competitive.  Farmers  are  thus  better  placed  to 
face their challenges and meet their customers' demands. Overall this is to the benefit 
of all citizens in the EU. 

However, farmers and economic operators in agriculture perceive the complexity of 
their  business  environment  not  only  on  the  basis  of  CAP  rules  but  against  the 
background of all legal parameters they are subject to. The Commission, therefore, 
looks  at  simplification  and  the  reduction  of  unnecessary  administrative  burden  as 
comprehensive objectives that need to be pursued in all policy areas relevant to the 
agricultural sector and at all levels including in the Member States and regions. All 
actors in the process should in the future pay particular attention to this aspect. 

22 

Available estimates suggest that the burden in the area of direct payments will be reduced by at least 
EUR 1 400 million. 

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