Copa Cogeca, the umbrella group of EU farm organisations, has announced that it will stage a “flash action” outside the European Parliament next week.
The umbrella group, together with a local branch of the French farm organisation FNSEA, will demonstrate in Strasbourg from 10:30a.m CET on Tuesday, March 12.
Copa Cogeca will align its demonstration, which it described as a “flash action”, with a plenary session of the parliament at which, the group said, three “key votes” could take place.
A vote on the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) is scheduled for March 12. The group also expects votes on the Green Claims Directive and Autonomous Trade Measures for Ukraine.
Announcing the demonstration, Copa Cogeca said it is time to steer EU agricultural policies “back on course”, and reaffirm agriculture as a “cornerstone” of the EU project.
Copa Cogeca
For several months, farmers throughout Europe have been mobilising to address local, national, and European concerns which, the group said, all “point to the EU legislator”.
“All these movements had several points in common concerning regulatory burdens, trade agreements, and the implementation of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP),” the group said.
“In recent years, there has been a prevailing tendency to pursue agendas forcefully, ‘at any cost’, without engaging in meaningful dialogue with farmers, as evidenced by initiatives like Farm to Fork.
“The Green Deal for agriculture, in this regard, was a regulatory tsunami, with too many rushed consultations, arbitrary top-down targets, and proposals pushed through without feasibility studies nor financing,” the group said.
European agriculture is calling for short-term answers and “strong signals”, Copa Cogeca said, which could take the form of the following:
- Immediately effective simplification proposals;
- Answers on agricultural trade with Ukraine;
- Halt to negotiations on the EU-Mercosur agreement in its current form;
- Breakthrough on new genomic techniques (NGTs);
- Directive on industrial emissions that “does not attack family pig and poultry farms”.
Copa Cogeca said that there are “contradictory messages” coming from the EU to farmers, which it said gives the “impression that Europe has lost its agricultural compass”.
“We see that the European Commission, with its Strategic Dialogue launched by President von der Leyen, is bringing back method and listening – it’s about time and welcomed!
“We have also witnessed expressions of support from most political parties within the European Parliament during recent public hearings,” the umbrella group said.
However, the same parliament voted to pass the Nature Restoration Law and showed “limited support” when questions were raised concerning agricultural trade with Ukraine, the group said.