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Agriculture

The Council will have 2 public debates – webstreamed "live" - on direct payments and on transparency, two major aspects of the reform of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

For direct payments, the Commission proposed in October 2011 to support farmers' income in a fairer, better targeted and simpler way, in particular with a more equitable distribution of funds between farmers, between regions and between Member States (respectively internal and external convergence) - see IP/11/1181. The Presidency has circulated a paper setting out a number of amendments to the Commission proposal, as well as new provisions relating to internal convergence.

On transparency, Ministers will discuss the Commission proposal of September 2012 aimed at reconciling the need for transparency with the protection of personal data. Previous rules had been put on hold following a 2010 judgment by the European Court of Justice partially invalidated transparency rules on the basis that they went beyond data protection rules for "natural persons". The new proposal – see IP/12/1006 - sets out limits on the publication of individual names and asks Member States to publish more detailed information, particularly on the type of aid and the description of the measures for which the funds have been allocated. Discussions will be structured around three questions put forward by the Presidency – the objective pursued by the Commission's proposal; elements relating to beneficiaries of funding to be published; and possible thresholds.