Agricultural Aid Application 4.0 Ideas and concerns from farmers perspective

Transcription

1 Agricultural Aid Application 4.0 Ideas and concerns from farmers perspective A contribution to the session Monitoring experiences and challenges 23 rd MARS Annual Conference November 2017, Gormanston, County Meath, Ireland CONTACT ADDRESS Christian Gaebel German Farmers Association, DBV Policy Officer for Agricultural Policy Claire-Waldoff-Straße Berlin c.gaebel@bauernverband.net Web: 1

2 Outline 1. Who we are 2. About the current situation from farmers perspective 3. Using opportunities and benefits from digitalisation 4. Short and medium term implementation of basic simplifications 5. Create and establish important conditions 2

3 1. Who we are DBV United voice for German Farmers ~ farmers in Regional Associations ~ 90 % of German farmers organised in DBV DBV as umbrella organisation DBV represents all types of agricultural production Membership is voluntary 3

4 1. Who we are 18 Regional Farmers Associations 2 regional farmers associations 2 regional farmers associations 2 regional farmers associations 4

5 1. Who we are Network of Associated Members 5

6 2. About the current situation from farmers perspective Bureaucratic obstacles and disproportionate burdens or, put another way: The farmer caught in the hamster wheel of agricultural aid under CAP IACS & GSAA = complex + time-consuming + bureaucratic Cost-Benefit-Ratio disproportionate for farmers and authorities GSAA only compatible in those regions with a powerful agricultural administration OTSC often associated with incalculable risks and uncertainties Even for claim year 2018, farmers have to deal with different application systems if they have areas outside the region of their premises 6

7 2. About the current situation from farmers perspective Bureaucratic obstacles and disproportionate burdens 1. In many regions farmers need to work with obsolete satelite photos + updates rather irregular; i.e. inaccuracies at the expense of farmers 2. OTSCs lead to different measurement results Corrections keep farmers/authorities busy beyond the current application process 3. Geographically precise and complex measuring and mapping m² / cm² hardly tolerances even with minimal overlaps underdeclaration of areas allowed = Farmer percives systems like LPIS as inconsistent The farmer caught in the hamster wheel of agricultural aid under CAP 7

8 2. About the current situation from farmers perspective Bureaucratic obstacles and disproportionate burdens 4. Farmers with eligible areas in different regions have to deal with different application systems (no synchronisation of different GSAA systems) 5. New procedures or tools ( Yellow Card, Preliminary Checks etc.) so far do not lead to expected easements for farmers (additional OTSCs, different technical conditions between regions) 6. Complex system of sanctions, e.g. out of concerns for re-charges area based payments are burdened by excessive bureaucracy (controllability more important than objective of a measure, e.g. Greening) The farmer caught in the hamster wheel of agricultural aid under CAP 8

9 3. Using opportunities and benefits from digitalisation EU, Federal and Länder authorities are required to use advances in digitalisation and remote sensing Technical progress continues + Digitalisation is accelerating There is a need for acceptance for this development and transparency in agriculture Optimising the current system of controls and sanctions alone is not enough DBV follows the path towards a claimless agricultural aid and supports it However, probably not only simplification is needed, but rather the development and implementation of a Future Vision/Strategy Rather, implementation of agricultural aid under CAP must be seen as an holistic process from the preparation of the application to the payment for the farmer * Ideas still to be decided by DBV 9

10 3. Using opportunities and benefits from digitalisation Strategic goal of a claimless agricultural aid under CAP Goal of this way: Claimless implementation of area based CAP measures! What does this mean? ~ Remote sensing automatically generates all required application data ~ Farmer no longer has to process data himself, but only confirms a Check List Area-wide monitoring focuses on eligibilities that are subject of remote sensing No more OTSCs needed, because all relevant information can be reconciled with remote sensing data Monitoring only for area based measures, not abusing for other purposes * Ideas still to be decided by DBV 10

11 4. Short and medium term implementation of basic simplification Short and medium term, but at latest at the beginning of the new CAP period after 2020, a series of basic simplifications must take effect 1. Nationwide or between all Länder compatible IT system for CAP application (continue using proven best practise ) 2. Online application based on current geodata not older than two weeks e.g. in April: Farmer receives Electronic Area Map with all data on the use of each potentially eligible area/parcel from authority/paying agency; Farmer uses this as Check List 3. Fixing all data relevant for the current application year based on a fixed deadline * Ideas still to be decided by DBV 11

12 4. Short and medium term implementation of basic simplification Short and medium term, but at latest at the beginning of the new CAP period after 2020, a series of basic simplifications must take effect 4. Proportionality of the system of controls and sanctions Focus on key criteria; Reducing control costs to a maximum of 10 times the sanction Sanctionable errors must be significant and deliberate in their effects Minor deviations or errors must be excluded from the qualification of an error by reasonable de minimis thresholds Tolerable error risk of 4 percent is appropriate to balance control costs and benefits In addition, there must be an appropriate absolute threshold for minor offenses 5. Transparent clarification and control process ( Clearing ) This applies to all digital processes of authorities and paying agencies, which have to fully disclose all geodata analysis; Only earmarked area-wide data collection * Ideas still to be decided by DBV 12

13 4. Short and medium term implementation of basic simplification Short and medium term, but at latest at the beginning of the new CAP period after 2020, a series of basic simplifications must take effect 6. Accepting all relevant data sources Application-relevant data which farmer gains from his Precision Farming System should be used by authorities and paying agencies to fully replace OTSCs 7. Introduction of the Single-Audit-Principle EU Commission sets only minimum control standards and makes uniquely sure that the MS s control system works; No further direct checks by EU needed 8. Abolition of payment entitlements 9. Align advising services and training for farmers to bring this kind of Agricultural Aid Application 4.0 in practise * Ideas still to be decided by DBV 13

14 5. Create and establish important conditions On the way to an Agricultural Aid Application 4.0 further improvements should be made Powerful internet + stable application programs are basic requirement for Modernising and Simplifying CAP and IACS Includes in particular the energetic development of the potentials of remote sensing But above all, the Strategy of a claimless agricultural aid under CAP requires that eligibilities to be monitored focus on digitally identifyable facts Also a German competence center for data processing and provision is needed at Federal level, which is tailored to the specific areas of CAP and IACS implementation DBV emphasises the importance of an efficient and result-orientated CAP funding policy Monitoring must be consistently adapted to technical possibilities 14

15 Thank you for your attention 15