ARMA representatives at the 55th Conference of Directors of EU Paying Agencies in Antwerp, Belgium
15.05.2024
The 55th Conference of Directors of Paying Agencies of the European Union was held in Antwerp on May 15 – 17, 2024. The conference was organized in Belgium in connection with the current presidency of the European Council.
As every year, the meeting was attended by the heads of EU paying agencies and agricultural sector institutions of all member and candidate countries, as well as representatives of The European Commission, The European Court of Auditors, The European Anti-Fraud Office and The European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The Agency for the Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture was represented by The Deputy President Joanna Gierulska and The Deputy Director of the Analyses and Reporting Department Emilia Godlewska.
During the 55th Conference of Paying Agency Directors, presentations and workshops focused mainly on lessons learned after the first year of the new CAP and on the use of data and innovative techniques for using them, especially artificial intelligence, in order to increase both the internal efficiency of paying agencies, as well as professionalizing the agricultural sector.
The main goal of the organizers was to convey a positive, future-oriented but realistic message.
At the beginning of the conference, representatives of the European Commission's DG AGRI presented a summary regarding serious shortcomings during the implementation of the CAP 2023-2027 and the current status of work on the AMS Area Monitoring System.
Subsequent presentations on the first day of the conference dealt with the Court of Auditors' new approach to the CAP 2023-2027 and the prospect of planned controls and audits by the European Court of Auditors (ECA).
The current status of their work was presented by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO).
On the second day of the conference, a joint workshop entitled "The Potential of Artificial Intelligence for the Implementation of Different Areas of Payment Agency Administration and Control Systems" was held, during which participants debated the potential of AI in the implementation of transactions and services provided by payment agencies.
Unlike previous conferences, which summarized the results of questionnaires sent out by the organizer to member states, this time surveys were sent out to Finnish and Latvian farmers. The survey assessed the state of communication with farmers under the new CAP.
At the end of the meeting, the Hungarian delegation made a Presentation to the 56th Conference of Directors of Paying Agencies, which will be held in Budapest on October 16-18, 2024.
