On 3 September 2025, EU member states’ representatives agreed the Council’s position on a package to simplify provisions of the common agricultural policy (CAP).
The initiative is presented as a means to reduce administrative burdens, support farmers including new and young entrants, and strengthen the competitiveness of European agriculture.
It forms part of the Commission’s “Omnibus III” package, tabled on 14 May 2025, which proposes targeted amendments to the CAP’s Strategic Plan Regulation (SPR) and the Horizontal Regulation. The Council has treated the file as a priority to give farmers and national administrations legal certainty on obligations.
According to the Commission’s assessment, the proposed simplification could generate annual savings of up to €1.6 billion for farmers and more than €200 million for national administrations. The Council maintains the core direction of the Commission text: easing administrative burdens and reducing controls; increasing payments to small farmers; and simplifying conditionality rules, in particular for organic farms. The position also envisages fewer on-the-spot checks and the deletion of the annual performance clearance.
The package sits within a wider effort to enhance EU competitiveness by cutting red tape across policy areas. In February 2025, the Commission proposed two earlier “Omnibus” packages to simplify sustainability reporting requirements and certain EU investment programmes, and in March 2025 EU leaders called on co-legislators to advance work on simplification with high priority. “Omnibus III” is the agriculture strand of that drive.
On crisis management, the Council notes that changes to the agricultural reserve would limit calls on that fund, while new types of crisis payments under the SPR are designed to improve funding to farmers during shocks. Those new instruments have, however, been deferred to the broader CAP revision, with the Council indicating that they will be examined in that context.
The mandate agreed by member states adjusts several elements of the Commission proposal. It would allow member states to decide the extent to which partially organic farms can be considered as meeting specific good agricultural and environmental conditions (GAECs). It would improve the possibilities for farmers to access risk-management tools, such as insurance or mutual funds. It would also raise the percentage rate for advances on direct payments, giving administrations greater scope to assist farmers after events such as natural disasters.
For beneficiaries, the combination of increased small-farmer payments and simplified conditionality is intended to reduce compliance burdens, particularly for holdings with limited administrative capacity. Certified organic farms would see streamlined requirements where appropriate. The envisaged reduction in inspection frequency and the removal of the annual performance clearance are expected to cut recurrent obligations for both farmers and paying agencies, aligning with the Commission’s savings estimates.
Procedurally, the Council’s position enables inter-institutional negotiations once the European Parliament adopts its own mandate. The rotating Presidency has signalled readiness to open talks to reach a final agreement under the ordinary legislative procedure. If a joint text is concluded, member states would need to amend their CAP strategic plans before applying the new rules, to ensure national frameworks align with the revised provisions.
The Commission’s May proposal set out the main simplification strands, including easier payments for small farmers, streamlined environmental requirements and controls, and strengthened crisis management architecture. While the Council’s mandate defers certain crisis-payment types to the forthcoming broader CAP revision, it retains the focus on reducing routine administrative demands and providing more predictable support channels.
The file now moves to the negotiating table. The substance and timing of any final package will depend on the outcome of trilogues between the Council and Parliament. Pending agreement, the measures are framed as targeted simplifications rather than a wholesale redesign of the policy, concentrating on controls, reporting and eligibility clarity within the current CAP cycle.
Somebody Please Explain to Ursula von der Leyen That Europe Cannot Regulate Its Way to Prosperity
