EU plans simpler rules for billions worth of farm subsidies, draft shows

By Kate Abnett

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is drawing up plans to simplify rules governing its huge farming subsidy programme, draft documents seen by Reuters showed, as Brussels races to lighten the regulatory burden on local businesses.

The move could affect large sums of EU money. The EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of farming subsidies is worth around a third of its 2021-27 budget, or around 387 billion euros ($399 billion) in payments to farmers and rural development.

A draft European Commission calendar of upcoming policies, seen by Reuters, showed the Commission will propose a CAP "simplification package" in the second quarter of this year.

"Simplification measures concerning the Common Agricultural Policy will address sources of complexity and excessive administrative burden for national administrations and farmers," a second draft Commission document said.

The drafts could still change before they are due to be published on Tuesday.

Farmers across Europe wielded their political clout last year when they staged months of sometimes-violent protests against EU red tape. In response, the EU diluted green conditions attached to some farming subsidies.

The upcoming simplification plans are part of an EU drive to quickly streamline rules, aiming to make local industries more competitive and respond to U.S. President Donald Trump's promise to scrap regulations.

Reducing corporate regulation was a key election campaign pledge for Trump, who already rolled back rules on oil and gas drilling within his first days in office.

Danish government minister Jeppe Bruus, who manages Denmark's "Green Tripartite" deal to bring the farming sector in line with climate targets, said his country supported CAP reforms that would simplify bureaucracy - but also offer farmers more support for green schemes.

"I totally agree on the agenda of deregulation, because it's a monster that just keeps feeding itself," Bruus told Reuters in an interview last week. "At the same time, we need to stay focused on how to address climate change."

The European Commission has faced environmentalist criticism for responding to last year's farmers protests by quickly paring back some of the subsidies' green conditions.

The EU's ombudsman launched an inquiry in September into the changes after NGOs complained that Brussels had breached EU law by failing to carry out a climate assessment before pushing through the changes.

($1 = 0.9689 euros)

(Reporting by Kate Abnett; editing by Markm Heinrich)