THE SINGLE PAYMENT SCHEME IN THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF THE CAP "HEATH CHECK"

Based on the comprehensive Impact assessment of potential changes to the CAP that accompanied the HC legal proposals tabled by the Commission on 20th May 2008, this paper focuses on the impact analysis of options for adjustment of the Single Payment Scheme. It is put in evidence the distributional implications of the current SPS models as well as the link between the payment distribution with structural variables. Open issues that lead to the need of adjusting the system are also presented. The economic impact of alternative options are analysed based on Eurostat, audit, and microeconomic data. Issues examined include the impact of options on the distribution of payments, on land values, and on farmers income by size and specialisation. Results put in evidence the need to allow MS to consider a targeted adjustment towards a flatter rate for payments, which would address the societal concerns of unequal distribution of payments between farmers.