A group representing dairy farmers in the EU has said that the new European Commissioner for Agriculture will have to “withstand” the demands from industry and political forces in order to protect farmer livelihoods.
The European Milk Board (EMB) – of which the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) is a member – said that the incoming commissioner, Christophe Hansen, will take office at a time that EU institutions are “aware, in theory at least, of the problems facing both farmers and the agri-food sector”.
The EMB said that one of Hansen’s first tasks should be to develop a future vision for agriculture and food.
According to the dairy farmer group, the new commissioner is “showing signs of a new approach to agricultural policy in the EU”, based on his official public comments so far.
“Besides the specific content of the commissioner’s agricultural vision, which we are all curious about, it will also depend on how vehemently Hansen is able to assert and pursue the targets he has set,” the EMB warned.
“A whole number of players in Europe must, meanwhile, be well aware of the urgent need to improve the position of producers in the food chain, and that in future, only a profitable agriculture sector will ensure that there will be enough farmers to produce the quantities of food that are needed,” the group added.
However, the EMB said that there are interests in industry and politics that “clearly oppose a fair distribution of margins in the food supply chain”.
The EMB claimed that these interests even extend into the new EU Agri-Food Chain Observatory, which was established this year, but which the EMB claimed “tends to put the brakes” on efforts being made for improved transparency, rather than achieving it.
“The farmers expect the new commissioner for agriculture to take a constructive approach in this tug of war, and to flex his muscles,” the farm organisation said.
“Only then will it be possible to make further process with the important reforms of the Directive on Unfair Trading Practices (UTP) and those of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), so that these can make an impact and send the right signals to the farmers,” it added.
The EMB said that Hansen, more than any other commissioner before him, is confronted with a shrinking number of farms and the possible decline of food production in the EU.
“Hansen…will therefore be forced to take the agricultural sector into a new future where the social, economic and ecological aspects are combined. That is the only way for the hitherto still vague objectives to actually lead into a new EU agricultural policy.
“It will not be easy to make a success of reforming the sector along these lines, if Hansen does actually make a serious effort to do so. He will have to withstand strong headwinds from industry and politics. For the farmers, it remains to be seen how steadfast their new commissioner for agriculture will prove to be in the years to come,” the EMB said.