Commission welcomes political agreement on the CAP simplification package

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

The European Commission welcomes the political agreement reached yesterday between the European Parliament and the Council on the CAP simplification package to reduce administrative burden, simplify payment schemes, and boost farmers’ competitiveness.

The co-legislators provisionally agreed on key principles, including that the adopted package of amendments delivers simplification of on-farm requirements, better recognition of diverse farming practices such as organic farming, streamlined support for small and medium-sized farms, measures to boost competitiveness, including enhanced access to financial tools, and increased Member States’ flexibility in managing their CAP Strategic Plans.

The provisional agreement retains the core of the proposal put forward by the Commission in May. The administrative burden for farmers and administrations as well as on-the-spot checks will be reduced. Support to small farmers through payments will be reinforced. Organic farms will benefit from simplified rules. The agreement moreover foresees crisis payments to active farmers impacted by natural and climatic catastrophes. Compromises between co-legislators were found in relation to the green architecture, support to outermost regions, and data interoperability.

These measures will bring real benefits for farmers and Member States. They ease paperwork, increase flexibility, and help smaller and medium-sized farms make better use of CAP support. The reforms could save over €1.6 billion annually for farmers and more than €210 million for national administrations, while making payments, requirements, and crisis tools simpler and more adaptable, underlining that the simplification package is a key CAP deliverable.

Next steps

Providing the political agreement is confirmed by co-legislators followed by formal entry into force before the end of the year, this proposal agreed today will already offer concrete, targeted simplifications and savings from 2026.

The Commission is also proposing further simplification measures, including from areas outside agriculture, aimed at reducing reporting and control burden and facilitating uptake of the new flexibilities offered by the CAP simplification omnibus.

Background

During the current mandate, the Commission has taken decisive steps to cut burdens and boost EU competitiveness. This results in significant simplification measures and legislation that promotes competitiveness and growth. This package is the third of six simplification Omnibuses put forth by the Commission in less than a year, cutting over €8.6 billion in annual administrative costs, and the first to reach agreement.

Farmers across the EU are subject to administrative obligations, which are time consuming and generate costs for farmers and national administrations. Tabled by the Commission in May 2025, the Commission simplification proposal amends the CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) and the Horizontal Regulations.

The Vision for Agriculture and Food announced a comprehensive simplification package of the current agricultural legislative framework (2023-2027) to deliver in the following areas: (i) on-farm simplification and streamlining of requirements to better adjust to different situations and to various farming practices; (ii) streamlining support for smaller and medium-sized farms; (iii) providing measures that can help boost competitiveness; and (iv) increasing Member States’ flexibility in managing CAP strategic plans (CAP Plans).