The Council of the European Union has scheduled a two-day meeting of the Working Party on Horizontal Agricultural Questions (Post-2027 CAP) for 2-3 September 2026 in Brussels to discuss the regulation establishing conditions for implementing Union support to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The meeting, announced in a notice of meeting and provisional agenda published on 22 July 2026, will include an exchange of views on document 12033/26, which contains the draft regulation for CAP implementation conditions, though the document itself is not yet publicly available.
The working party, which falls under the Council's Agriculture and Fisheries configuration, will convene on 2 September at 10:00 in the LEX Building and continue on 3 September at 10:00 in the Justus Lipsius Building. The agenda includes the adoption of the meeting agenda, the exchange of views on the implementation regulation, and any other business. The meeting is part of the ongoing legislative process to shape the post-2027 CAP, which will succeed the current 2023-2027 programming period. The Commission's legislative proposals for the post-2027 CAP are expected to be formally tabled later in 2026, with the working party's discussions feeding into the Council's position.
The exchange of views will allow member state representatives to examine the proposed implementation conditions, which cover rules on direct payments, rural development, and market measures. The regulation is a key component of the CAP reform package, aiming to simplify procedures while aligning with the EU's Green Deal objectives. Stakeholders, including farmers' associations and agri-food businesses, are closely watching the negotiations, as the implementation rules will determine how subsidies are distributed and what environmental conditions are attached. The working party's discussions are expected to highlight tensions between member states seeking greater flexibility for national adaptations and those pushing for stronger harmonisation to ensure a level playing field. The outcome of the meeting will inform the Council's preparatory bodies ahead of formal negotiations with the European Parliament.
No prior coverage of this specific meeting exists in recent records, indicating that this is the first public notice of the working party's September session. The document 12033/26, once released, will provide the substantive basis for the member states' positions.