European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski has said that arguments for a stronger budget of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are needed.
A budget worth 0.3% of the EU’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is “not enough” to ensure food security in the long term, he recently told the 2023 EU Agricultural Outlook Conference.
Commissioner Wojciechowski said he expects “strong support” from farm organisations across the EU in the “strategic dialogue on agriculture” for further financing of the CAP.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen announced in September the commission’s intention to start a strategic dialogue on the future of agriculture in the EU.
The EU Agricultural Outlook 2023-2035 states that dairy prices are likely to follow an increasing path, while beef consumption and production is expected to continue to decline.
CAP
A total of €387 billion in funding has been allocated to the CAP for the 2021-2027 period. The current CAP from 2023-2027 includes a crisis reserve of at least €450 million per year.
There are “many arguments” to create a common intervention policy as the third pillar of CAP, the commissioner said adding that a stronger budget for crisis intervention is needed.
Although the crisis reserve was planned for support of member states in economical crises, the damage caused by natural disasters across the EU was “too big” to deny states access, he said.
Funding was used to support farmers amid drought in Spain and Italy and flooding in Greece and Slovenia this year, however, the commissioner said this is only a temporary solution.
In the future €450 million will not be enough considering the scale of the problem, he said adding that agriculture was included under State Aid rules following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Member states so far spent €9 billion under State Aid, mainly Poland and Italy. This is not a solution for the future and more instruments for crisis intervention are needed, he said.
While the decision will be made by the next commission and the next parliament, he said that the results of the strategic dialogue will be important to decide the future of the CAP.
“I hope member states will understand that we need such an instrument in the CAP budget. The structural dialogue will be helpful to achieve that,” Commissioner Wojciechowski said.