The start today of new transparency rules concerning the public listing of beneficiaries of CAP payments has been welcomed by European farm commissioner, Phil Hogan, as a move which will help taxpayers understand what a good job farmers are doing in relation to the environment, animal welfare and social standards.
“It is important that taxpayers appreciate the important work that farmers do in providing steady supplies of safe, high quality food, produced while respecting environmental, animal welfare and social standards that are stricter than those faced by their competitors outside the EU,” said the commissioner.
“I hope these new transparency rules will help the wider public better understand how the CAP is helping to address society’s concerns, whether through the direct payments system, or via individual investment projects, such as to help young farmers to set up, to modernise farm machinery, to apply additional environmental measures, or for projects benefitting the wider rural economy.”
The new rules, which were agreed during the 2013 CAP reform, apply from today for the first time, demanding that each member state’s Ministry of Agriculture publishes the required information. This will include the name of the beneficiary, amount and nature of the measure concerned.
The move is designed to operate within the “broader objective of the European Commission to improve and maintain a high level of transparency on how the EU budget is managed”.
Access full EC transparency details
