The European Commission is proposing to give farmers up to 14 days prior notice of inspections aimed at ensuring they are complying with EU regulations.
For the past few years, farmers have deeply resented on-the-spot inspections which can result in cuts in their individual subsidies if standards are not being maintained.
The system, known as cross compliance, was a central part of the CAP reforms of 2003 when the single annual payment to farmers was introduced.
To avoid cuts in their payments, farmers have to protect the health of humans and animals, and to maintain their land in good agricultural and environmental condition.
But now changes are being introduced to simplify the system, to give a certain level of tolerance in minor cases of non-compliance, and to give advance notice of some on-farm inspections.
This morning, EU Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said direct payments to farmers will only be acceptable to the public if people see that farmers are being rewarded to carry out vital tasks in the countryside. But, she said, this does not mean that the cross compliance system cannot be made to work more effectively.
