European farmers will be given more time to prepare Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) aid applications following a decision by the European Commission to extend the deadline by one month.

Industry group Copa Cogeca has welcomed the extension, claiming producers from member states will be in a better position to put together comprehensive applications.

"We called for this as many of the rules under the new CAP are still new and complicated to apply," says Copa Cogeca general secretary Pekka Pesonen.

"Some member states are also still getting their IT systems up and running and this will give farmers and member states more time to avoid making unnecessary errors when preparing their applications."

He adds that farmers and cooperatives are still suffering a 'serious crisis' with producers across several sectors often not covering their own input costs.

"The last thing they need is to have their aid applications rejected.

"But we hope that it will not reduce the efficiency of the measures and that farmers in some member states who have completed their forms get paid on time."

The deadline has been extended from May 15 to June 15.

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