A special briefing by the Farming Research Group on the proposals for the reform of Common Agricultural Policy.

After several leaked drafts, on 12th October 2011 the European Commission published its proposals for four Council Regulations for the reform of Common Agricultural Policy from 1st January 2014:

• Direct Payments (the new Single Payment Scheme);
• Single Common Market Organisation;
• Rural Development (Pillar II);
• a Horizontal Regulation for financing, managing, and monitoring the CAP.

This Special Briefing focuses on the first of these - the proposals for the new system of Direct Payments, as this will be of most concern for clients and professionals alike.

Please note that the following is a summary of the proposals as they stand. Over the forthcoming months and years the EU Member States will be engaged in debating, negotiating and refining the Proposals before EU Farm Ministers and the EU Parliament agree the new CAP perhaps in late 2012. The intention (perhaps optimistic) is for the new CAP to be effective for the year 2014.

Read the full briefing: CAP Reform October 2011