Common agricultural policy CAP: financing; alignment of the Regulation with the TFEU (Commission delegated and implementing powers)

The European Parliament adopted by 650 votes to 24, with 14 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 on the financing of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 165/94 and Council Regulation (EC) No 78/2008.

Parliament’s position adopted at first reading, under the ordinary legislative procedure, amends the Commission proposal as follows:

Delegated and implementing powers of the Commission: the amendments introduced by the MEPs aim to take into account:

• the "Common Understanding" on practical arrangements for the use of delegated acts (Article 290 TFUE) to be formally agreed on by the Council and the Parliament;
• the "Regulation on implementing powers"(Regulation (EC) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and the Council laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers).

The power to adopt the delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to certain conditions. The delegation of power shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from the date of entry into force of this Regulation. A delegated act shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the Parliament or the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or the Council.

Automatically decommitted: an amendment stipulates that for Member States which have opted to organise their rural development programmes on a regional basis, the calculation of the amount to be automatically decommitted may be made at the level of the Member State.