Working conditions in the agri-sector are “not negotiable” and must be improved during the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform, an EU conference has heard.
The European Federation of Food, Agriculture, and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT) said that the “dignity” of agri-workers’ working conditions in the future CAP must remain a “red line”.
At least 10 million people are employed in European agriculture, mainly as seasonal workers, day labourers or in other “precarious statuses”, according to the EFFAT.
As farmer protests “opposing the EU Green Deal” are sweeping across Europe, the federation presented its vision for a “fairer” CAP at a European Parliament hearing earlier this week.
Working conditions in EU agri-sector
Ahead of the EU elections, the federation, which represents 116 national trade unions from 37 European countries, urges the next EU to strengthen “social conditionality”.
At the conference the EFFAT said it must be ensured that social conditionality is “effectively implemented” to address the working conditions of agricultural workers in Europe.
Key reforms in the current CAP 2023-2027 included that CAP payments will be linked to compliance with certain European labour law provisions.
The social conditionality mechanism covers directives on transparent and predictable employment conditions and on on-farm safety and health.
“The reality remains that agricultural work continues to be one of the most insecure, poorly compensated, and hardest occupations in Europe.
“The lived experiences of nearly four million of them are characterised by struggles, deprivation, and labour abuse,” the federation said.
The EFFAT’s vision for a fairer CAP emphasises:
- Strengthening social conditionality through a robust system of increased sanctions and inspections to ensure its effective implementation;
- Broadening the criteria for the allocation of direct payments, including the level and quality of employment to promote growth and good employment in rural areas;
- Extending the scope of social conditionality ensuring it applies also as an ex-ante mechanism;
- Introducing the provision of CAP-funded education and training programmes for agri-workers.
There is a “disproportionate concentration” of powers with some actors in the food chain “reaping profits and vulnerable farm workers paying the price”, EFFAT secretary general, Kristjan Bragason, said.
Speaking at the conference, German Green Party MEP Martin Haeusling said: “It’s paramount to build a CAP that is socially and environmentally responsible.
“The first step is the creation of a regional ecological agriculture. We must stop thinking that we can globalise the sector and start questioning the sustainability of our international trade.”
Intervening in a panel discussion, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit said that agriculture is the “sector of the future, but it needs urgent EU action”.
“We need to support farmers and ensure them decent revenues so that agri-workers can live in dignity,” Commissioner Schmit said at the conference on Wednesday, January 31.
The EFFAT’s call for a fairer CAP is part of its broader vision on a fairer Europe for workers which the federation also presented earlier this week.