Copa Cogeca has said that the next European Union budget must better reflect the bloc’s ambitions when it comes to farming.
Ahead of the European elections in June, the umbrella group of EU farm organisations including the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), has launched its “European Election Manifesto”.
The document calls for a repositioning of the agriculture sector as a “strategic asset” for Europe.
The current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which is due to run until 2027 has a total budget of €387 billion.
European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski previously stated that a CAP budget worth 0.3% of the EU’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is “not enough” to ensure food security in the long term.
Copa Cogeca
The Copa Cogeca election manifesto lists the many challenges facing agriculture during the 2024-2029 term of office.
The document outlines seven key priorities for the European Commission’s next term of office, as follows:
- Reconciling climate change mitigation, nature conservation and agri-food production;
- Reinforcing the competitivity and profitability of EU agriculture, while maintaining EU sustainable production potential;
- Ensuring the agricultural generational transition ahead;
- Improving plant health and animal health and welfare by fostering research, innovation and digital technologies;
- Boosting EU farmers and forest owners’ contributions towards renewable energy and bioeconomy;
- Cooperative enterprises: strengthening their resilience and competitiveness whilst operating in the agri-food and forestry sectors;
- Investing and innovating in vibrant rural areas.
In order to achieve these key priorities, the document identifies four cross-EU “policy enablers”, including “a real review of the agricultural budget” to align environmental, geopolitical and financial ambitions.
Copa Cogeca said a global impact assessment of current agricultural policies should be carried out at the beginning of the next mandate, as well as feasibility studies on new proposals.
“In terms of the operations of the European institutions, the Green Deal for agriculture was a regulatory tsunami, with hurried consultations and proposals being rushed through.
“For the 2024-2029 mandate, we are calling for less regulation but better quality regulation, allowing sufficient time for public consultation and feedback on impact assessment within the commission, in particular,” it said.
The European farming organisations also stress the growing need for coherence between the EU’s trade policy and its ambitions for the internal market.
Finally, Copa and Cogeca called for a European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Areas with the role of Vice-President, and a strengthening of the strategic dialogue groups as a long-term strategic dialogue tool for the commission.