The European Commission is Adopting Additional Measures to Support the Food Industry

The European Commission has today adopted two measures to support the food industry. The measures will increase farmers' cash flow and reduce the administrative burden for national, regional authorities and farmers in these particularly difficult times.

In order to increase farmers' cash flow, the Commission will increase advance payments for direct payments (from 50% to 70%) and payments for rural development (from 75% to 85%).

Farmers will start receiving these advances from mid-October. For additional flexibility, Member States will be able to pay farmers before all on-site inspections are completed.

The second measure adopted today reduces the number of on-site physical checks on the vast majority of the CAP budget from 5% to 3%. In the present exceptional circumstances, the importance of minimizing physical contact between farmers and inspectors is crucial. The Commission also offers flexibility in the timing of checks.

Member States will be able to use alternative sources of information to replace traditional on-farm visits (eg satellite or tagged geolocation photos to prove that the investment has been made). This will allow for the most efficient use of resources, compliance with social distance rules and will reduce the administrative burden and will help avoid unnecessary delays in processing aid applications to ensure that the subsidy is paid to farmers in as soon as possible.