Gradual transition to direct payments in agriculture

    Representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, the Delegation of European Union to Serbia and the Project covering the negotiation process for Chapters 11 and 12 continued the fair program with the direct payments and the importance of the gradual transition to direct payments in agriculture.

    The meeting was opened by the Project Coordinator Dejan Maksić, who emphasized that the new CAP is formed under the influence of a general EU policy related to the Green Deal, which seeks to make agricultural policy fairer, greener, more flexible and acceptable for member states. “Within this project, we tried to find the optimum way to gradually align our national policy to the CAP and to adjust the European system to our national circumstances”, stated Mr. Maksić.

    Laszlo Arendas, Program Manager of the Delegation of European Union to Serbia, expressed hope that next year Serbia would get the “green lights” for the official opening of Chapter 11. “The European Union always gives the Member States a list of possibilities and the Project tried to map those possibilities. Now is the time for all stakeholders to get involved and bring the most efficient model of agricultural policy for future Serbia”, stated Mr. Arendas.

    Project expert Snežana Blagoeva presented a comprehensive analysis containing an overview of the development of the agricultural sector in Serbia, EU direct payment schemes and their implementation in the Member States, potential scenarios for implementing EU direct payment systems, with advantages and disadvantages of each scenario and a proposal for an optimum direct payment scheme.

    Blagoeva pointed out that the transition to direct payments should be carried out gradually and be based on a thorough analysis. It is crucial to take into account all the specificities of Serbian agriculture, which are part of the legal framework of the European Union.