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Kougialis: Improved EU Common Agricultural Policy

20/02/2018 11:16

Cyprus expects the EU to maintain the role of direct payments as a means of supplementing and supporting agricultural incomes during the revision of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), according to Agriculture Minister Nikolaos Kougialis, who participated yesterday in the EU28 Agriculture Ministers Council in Brussels.

In particular, the Minister for Agriculture, during his intervention in the debate on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy after 2020 noted that the implementation of mechanisms for targeting direct payments must be voluntary and take into account the specificities of the Member States. Furhtermore, he called for the continuation of the scheme, but stressed the need to improve the tied aid system to farmers, in a way that helps support local production of products. In the same intervention, he also underlined the need to simplify the approval process of the Rural Development Program and how farmers would apply for agricultural support.