Commission unveils major plan to simplify EU’s agricultural rulebook
- In early 2025, the European Commission proposed a comprehensive package aimed at streamlining key regulations and cutting administrative complexities within the Common Agricultural Policy across the EU.
- The proposal aims to ease regulations and cut bureaucracy but raises concerns because it permits reducing permanent grassland protections by 10%, which risks weakening vital environmental safeguards.
- The changes include allowing Member States to define certain rules via national laws, easing compliance costs for farmers, and shifting CAP plan approvals to focus only on strategic amendments.
- The European Environmental Bureau criticized the proposal for lacking adequate impact evaluations and warned it could undermine key environmental safeguards. Senior Policy Officer Théo Paquet emphasized that the European Commission has dismissed important nature and climate protections in the Common Agricultural Policy without proper assessment or consultation.
- If adopted, the reforms could increase farm competitiveness and save €1.58 billion annually but may undermine climate goals and reduce policy coherence, thus challenging the CAP’s environmental legitimacy.
32 Articles
32 Articles
EU simplifies rules for agricultural sector, mainly to support small farmers
The European Commission presented new agricultural policy on Wednesday that should reduce the administrative burden for farmers. The package of measures should save farmers up to 1.58 billion euros.

Commission wants to simplify rules for farmers
More efficient controls on the ground, less bureaucracy, more use of modern technology: the EU Commission promises considerable relief for farmers and authorities. This is expected to save almost 1.8 billion euros.
Commission unveils major plan to simplify EU’s agricultural rulebook
New tweaks to EU farming rules could potentially save farmers up to €1.58 billion annually, according to Commission estimates, but continue a trend toward making the EU’s green farming architecture more flexible.
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