The EU Agriculture Commissioner, Janusz Wojciechowski, has warned that more farmers may leave the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) unless the budget is increased.
The commissioner was speaking about a draft report on ensuring food security and the long-term resilience of EU agriculture in the EU Parliament yesterday (Tuesday, June 13).
The report, prepared by German MEP Marlene Mortler, supports Commissioner Wojciechowski’s view that the current CAP budget is insufficient to deliver food security and should be raised considerably.
The commissioner said that farmers are dealing with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the consequences of the war in Ukraine, and the impact of climate change, including drought and flooding.
CAP
“With a CAP budget of 0.4% of GDP (gross domestic product), we will not be able to respond effectively to the big challenges faced by agriculture in this major crisis.
“There is also a risk that more and more farmers will abandon direct payments, recognising that they do not fully compensate for the burden of participating in the CAP.
“In particular, we need to strengthen community crisis management instruments and funds,” Commissioner Wojciechowski said.
The commissioner said that the agricultural reserve, amounting to €450 million, “is not sufficient in a situation of deep and widespread crises”.
He said that national public aid is being increasingly used to respond to the crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.
“Member states have provided more than €7 billion in aid to farmers, and this aid is justified and needed, but, on the other hand, it causes inequalities in competition in the common market.
“We have a common market, a common agricultural policy, so crisis aid should be shared, but much more resources are needed for crisis management.”
The commissioner has made a proposal to the EU Commission ahead of the upcoming review of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) pointing to the need to increase the CAP agricultural reserve.
Wojciechowski will also prepare a plan this year for the EU Commission to ensure food security in the EU, while also recognising the role played by the EU in global food security.
He added that this plan will feed into the next CAP after 2027.
Farmers
The commissioner said that the Green Deal must be implemented but noted that requirements on farmers outside of agreed CAP measures should not be increased.
“Any attempt to force farmers into additional practices, not provided for in the CAP reform, could be a threat to the functioning of agriculture and a threat to food security,” he said.
Wojciechowski fully supported the draft report’s call for “an ambitious, comprehensive EU strategy on generational renewal in the agricultural sector”.
“Over the decade 2010-2020, we lost 3 million farms, falling from 12 to 9 million, and 800 farms disappeared every day, mainly due to the lack of young farmers willing to take over their holdings.
“On average, the age of a farmer in the EU is 57, and more than a third of European farmers are over 65 years old,” he said.
The commissioner said that there is a system of supports for young farmers under the new CAP. However, he added that the key to tackling generational renewal is not just within agricultural policy.
“For young people to want to work in agriculture, we need not only to improve the economic conditions in agriculture, but also to improve rural livelihoods.
“This is the great role of cohesion policy. Access to public services, public transport, education, health and cultural goods must be increased for rural residents,” Wojciechowski said.