On the back of yet another green light for a fresh batch of ‘simplification’ plans, ARC2020’s Natasha Foote explores how deep this latest round cuts into the roots of the CAP and sustainability rules, and what is hiding inside this simplification Trojan horse.
Legend has it that the Greeks, in efforts to finally break a decade-long siege on the fortressed city of Troy, rolled up with a gift too good to refuse – a colossal wooden horse, crafted to perfection. The Trojans, thinking they’d scored a divine freebie and scared the Greeks away, dragged it inside, poured the raki, and toasted their apparent good fortune.
Only later did they discover the truth: the horse was hollow, packed with hidden soldiers who spilled out to catch the inebriated Trojans off-guard, ultimately capturing the city and winning the war.
So, why am I talking about Greek mythology? Well because ‘Trojan horse’ is still alive and well in our political lexicon today, now synonymous with the promise of something shiny, concealing something altogether more sinister.
Say, for example, something sold as a ‘simplification’ of EU policies accompanied by rhetoric as hollow as the horse itself.
Hollow promises
Over the past couple of years, the Commission has insisted the simplification drive was not a backdoor for deregulation. Yet that façade splintered at the recent Copenhagen Competitiveness Summit when Commission President Ursula von der Leyen laid her cards on the table.
“We all agree we need simplification. We all agree we need deregulation,” she said, setting out in the plainest terms we’ve heard yet the deregulation agenda behind the shiny simplification front.
“We need it at the European level. Actually, we also need it at the national level, where gold plating is concerned. But I hope with the omnibuses, we are setting a good example so others can follow,” she continued, in a warning of the fun to come.
Those of us in the agrifood world know all too well what this means. The outbreak of farmers protests at the beginning of last year has been followed by a spate of sprawling simplification efforts (see here for a detailed overview of these).
This includes the European Parliament, which set out its stance last week on major legislative changes to once again reshape what is left of the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which runs until 2027.
One was the Omnibus simplification regulation, targeting the CAP Strategic Plans regulation, while another was on the Common Market Organisation (CMO) regulation is aimed at strengthening farmers’ position in the food supply chain.
But behind the shiny simplification veneer, this also means further relaxation of environmental conditions, as well as more flexibility to member states for management of the CAP Strategic Plans (see here for details of the original proposal from the Commission). The position voted would see the removal or weakening of protection of permanent grassland, valuable pastureland, water bodies, soils, and crop rotation.
And the right of the Parliament drove even deeper changes, including ‘steaking’ its position on a ban for meaty names for veggie alternatives (that’s a whole other story – and, like Troy, one as old as time).
This is the second reopening of the CAP and sixth consequential change (all with a conspicuous absence of an impact assessment) in less than two years. The proposals voted on by the Parliament will still have to then be compromised and approved between the two lawmakers, but this green light brings them one step closer to the final approval.
Green groups have been quick to denounce this latest simplification push, with the European Environmental Bureau calling it “a move that will result in serious environmental damage, erode trust in democratic decision-making, and ultimately not improve the lives of the farmers it is meant to support”.
And, as Green MEP and farmer Thomas Waitz pointed out, this position is a “first taste” of the upcoming negotiations for the next EU CAP. “After already five rounds of weakening and deregulating the current CAP, those who destroy nature still have not had enough and have not understood that they must provide public services in order to receive public funds,” he said following the vote.
More fun to come
Add to this the news that the Commission will also be reopening the organic legislation to make it “fit for the future”, as announced recently by EU Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen. This will concern both the secondary legislation but also the basic organic regulation. The idea is “not to decrease high standards of organic production,” the Commissioner set out, stressing that he plans to bring a “limited number of targeted changes to the basic act before the end of this year”.
Meanwhile, yet another Omnibus proposal has been announced in a ‘call for evidence’ by the Commission. This next round aims to “reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens while maintaining high standards”, this time targeting food and feed safety. This proposal is due by the end of this year.
And this is far from the last stop on the omnibus tour. The Parliament also agreed last week to weaken sustainability requirements after a deal was struck between the centre-right EPP with the Socialists and Liberals. This includes those on corporate sustainability reporting (the catchy CSRD) and due diligence (the even-catchier CSDDD), which requires firms’ supply chains to be free from human rights abuses or environmental problems.
This means companies with fewer than 1,000 employees will be exempted from the EU Corporate Sustainable Reporting Directive, while only the very largest companies with more than 5,000 employees and €1.5bn in turnover would be touched by the CSDDD. In short, this dramatically reduces the scope (and impact) of the sustainability rules.
All aboard the omnibus?
The move to hollow out policies under the banner of simplification has been met with staunch criticism from civil society and citizens across the EU, who have called on policymakers to create more, not fewer, protections for Europe’s collapsing ecosystems.
Part of the mobilisation saw an actual omni-bus take to the streets of Brussels on October 1, organised as part of the #HandsOffNature campaign, which is pushing back against what they call the “quiet dismantling” of rules under the “false promise of simplification”. This also saw the handover of a petition with just shy of 190,000 signatures to Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall.
Meanwhile, Corporate Europe Observatory has set up Deregulation Watch to help civil society monitor new developments in the deregulation agenda, assess what’s at stake, and organise in defense of strong social, environmental and human rights protections.
But the Commission response has so far been wooden. A letter seen by ARC2020, responding to public feedback received after the adoption of the CAP simplification proposal, and signed by Director-General of the Commission’s DG AGRI Elisabeth Werner, acknowledged the concern around “the weakening of environmental and social safeguards” and “lack of transparent consultation”.
The response is to double down on the Commission’s position, stating it is “confident that the proposal strikes the right balance between flexibility, simplification, and common elements, and is pleased to see its progress through the interinstitutional procedure”. “We eagerly anticipate its implementation by 2026,” the letter signs off.
What next?
It’s not yet the end of the road for many of these proposals, which also need to pass scrutiny in the Council and land on a compromise agreement between all parties. But the Parliamentary greenlights suggest that, while this particular Trojan horse was always more cardboard than crafted by a master carpenter, it has already rolled through the gates of Brussels.
What matters now is whether lawmakers and citizens alike recognise what’s spilling out from inside: alongside simplification, the systematic dismantling of rules meant to protect farmers, citizens, and ecosystems alike.
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