Ticker
Auditors: EU 'green' farm payments fail ecology criteria
By EUobserver
EU 'greening' payments, designed in a reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to reward farmers who make environmental improvements do not meet ecological criteria, the EU Court of Auditors said Tuesday. Payments "added more complexity" to the CAP, leading to changes in only about five per cent of EU farmland, their report said. Improvements to green payments will be implemented from 1 January 2018, a Commission spokesperson said.