New EU legislation should not overburden farmers and member states need to be given more flexibility in allocating aid for farming, Agriculture Minister Anton Refalo argued at an EU Council meeting held in Brussels this week.

Refalo said he was pleased with EU Commission work to reform and simplify the Common Agricultural Policy and make it more effective in aiding small-scale farming operations.

But in comments which reflected many of the grievances made by Maltese farmers during two protests earlier this year, the minister also emphasised concerns about farmers being forced to comply with more stringent rules than non-EU counterparts who had free access to local markets.

He also called for revised rules to allow governments to provide rapid response aid to farmers during emergencies such as extreme weather events or market instabilities.

The EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting focused on the EU’s response to Europe-wide protests by farmers. Member states agreed to give the Commission political guidance on work to reduce the administrative burden placed on farmers, and proposals to strengthen farmers’ position in the food supply chain,

Agriculture ministers also welcomed work to amend parts of the CAP to allow more flexibility in complying with certain EU environmental requirements.

The Commission has proposed to drop an EU rule that requires farmers to leave part of their land fallow and to also ease a crop rotation rule, allowing farmers to diversify their crops instead. It is also proposing to allow member states to introduce temporary derogations from EU rules in cases of adverse weather events.