Cyprus insists on further simplifying the way in which member states can make changes to their strategic plans under the Common Agricultural Policy, Minister for Agriculture Maria Panayiotou said upon her arrival at the meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council of the EU held in Brussels on Monday.

Speaking about the agenda of the meeting, she said that there will be a stocktaking of the first two years of implementation of the strategic plans under the Common Agricultural Policy.

"We welcomed the simplifications made so far and the quick reflexes shown by the European Commission and the changes they have brought in the preceding year. But of course there is a lot of room for improvement," Panayiotou noted.

The minister said that "we insist on further simplification on changes we want to make in the CAP strategic plans” which need to be made “in a simplified way, without bureaucratic procedures, so that they can be more directly implemented by the farmers themselves."

Regarding the evaluation and follow-up on conclusions and recommendations that have emerged through the strategic dialogue on the EU agriculture sector, the Minister pointed out that "we are seeing very important and positive elements, which should be taken into account in shaping the new CAP that we want”, concerning “supporting young farmers to have a fair and stable income” and to make the new CAP more people-oriented.

Panayiotou also said that she was going to brief her counterparts in the Council on the joint statement on the impact of water scarcity on the primary sector, issued by the nine Mediterranean EU countries (MED9) during their last meeting in Cyprus.

She said that through the joint statement the MED9 underline “the impact of the water scarcity problem but also our common demands, which is of course a holistic approach to the whole issue to ensure food security and to safeguard the incomes of farmers, but also of the consumers themselves, from the increased costs of agricultural products."