Fulfilling cross compliance requirements is a condition of the Single Farm Payment Scheme and failure to meet its requirements will result in cuts or cancellation of a farmers direct payments.
That was the clear message from Michael Hamell, Head of Agriculture and soil unit, DG Environment, EU Commission.
He explained that the link between respecting the environment and payments to farmers was first established in the 1992 CAP reforms.
“The logic for cross-compliance is that society, which provides support for farmers to respect the environment. Society – the taxpayer in other words – should not pay twice.”