This week the European Parliament adopted the CAP Simplification Package during its plenary session in Strasbourg shaping its position ahead of trilogue negotiations. While EFFAT welcomes the overall outcome and the Parliament’s decision to uphold Social Conditionality, we remain vigilant about ongoing attempts to weaken this crucial mechanism.
During the AGRI Committee debates in late September, some amendments sought to remove Social Conditionality under the pretext of reducing administrative burden and simplifying procedures. Their rejection, and the final approval of the report, send an important signal that simplification must not come at the expense of workers’ rights or social justice in agriculture.
EFFAT takes this opportunity to condemn the false arguments used by certain political groups and MEPs to remove Social Conditionality.
Enrico Somaglia, EFFAT’s General Secretary, says:
“These demands ignore the fact that the mechanism was designed from the outset to avoid administrative burden for farmers. Administrative burden for public administrations is also extremely limited. Social Conditionality relies solely on enforceable EU legal acts that farmers must already comply with, and on controls carried out by bodies responsible for enforcing labour standards.”
“Linking respect for workers’ rights to the receipt of EU taxpayers’ money is a matter of social justice in the interest of farm workers. The CAP’s social conditionality is also in the interest of the many farmers who respect workers’ rights, while facing unfair competition from those who ignore their responsibilities”, adds Ivan Ivanov, EFFAT Political Secretary for Agriculture.
On a positive note, the plenary confirmed the AGRI Committee’s vote to remove the newly proposed type of direct payment for farmers affected by natural disasters. Whilst EFFAT recognises that these are extraordinary payments of limited extent and scope, we welcome this decision, as the new crisis payments were unjustifiably exempt from Social Conditionality (see press release of 14 May 2025).
Next steps
While the CAP Simplification Package still refers to the current framework, the European Commission has proposed significant changes for the next programming period. Although the overall structure of social conditionality has been preserved, these new elements could seriously undermine the mechanism’s integrity (see press release of 18 July 2025).
We therefore reiterate our pledge to the co-legislators to safeguard the integrity of this hard-fought achievement in the current CAP reform and eliminate any derogations that could weaken its effectiveness in the next CAP framework, as outlined in our demands.
