The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), on Wednesday tabled a draft legislation in a bid to speed up the delivery of state subsidies to farmers across the 25-nation bloc.

Under the proposal, farmers are no longer required to get prior authorization for state aid for bad weather and animal and plant diseases.

The proposal also pushes farmers to invest more in crisis management. From 2010 onwards, bad weather aid would only be exempt from the EU's ban on anti-competitive state aid if the farmer has taken out insurance against damage from storms, drought, frost, floods, etc.

Other features of the proposal include various clauses to simplify the EU's rules on state aid to agriculture.

"This should lead to a better allocation of public support, ideally creating more jobs and growth in rural areas", the Commission said in a statement.

The Commission is consulting the member states and the farming sector on the proposal and plans to implement the regulation from January 2007.

Source: Xinhua