Andriejus Stančikas, the committee’s chairman, told BNS that the decision would allow stepping up support for small and medium farms and would help farmers to prepare themselves for a future EU-wide cap on direct payments.
“A farm will be able to receive up to 150,000 euros,” he said.
Stančikas said that the move is supported by the Chamber of Agriculture.
The European Commission‘s proposal to cap direct payments at 100,000 euros per farm in the post-2020 period had an impact on the committee’s opinion that was approved on Wednesday, the lawmaker said.
“Farms have to adapt themselves in one or another way to post-2020 changes,” he added.
Stančikas said the country’s largest farmers would lose around 1 million euros in direct payments over two years if the measure is approved, adding that the money would be reallocated to small and medium-sized farms.