Copa Cogeca, the federation of EU farmer organisations and agricultural co-operatives, has said that the EU has “moved away from the dogmatic, top-down approach” towards farming over the course the current EU term.
The current EU term began in 2019 and will come to an end with the European elections in June, in which EU voters will choose their MEPs for five years. After that, a new European Commission will be appointed, also for a five-year term.
In a joint statement marking Europe Day today (Thursday, May 9), Christiane Lambert, the president of Copa (farmer organisations) and Lennart Nilsson, the president of Cogeca (co-operatives), called for the “paradigm shift” on agriculture over the last five years to be continued in the new EU term.
“From June 6-9, 400 million European voters will be deciding on our common future. This May 9 is therefore an opportunity to take stock of the past mandate and to explain why the next few years will be so fundamental in Brussels, particularly in terms of agriculture.”
“Successive crises since March 2020 have forced European leaders to revise their approach. COVID-19; the war in Ukraine; the food security weapon brandished by Putin; inflation; and the recurrence of extreme weather events have all shown that agriculture is a sector that is essential, strategic, and vulnerable,” Copa Cogeca said.
“Each time, Europe has proven to be the right level for action, and has been able to react quickly, whether through the Next Generation EU plan; its energy independence and food security strategy; or more recently through its CAP simplification proposals,” the statement added.
The two farming leaders said that these strategies could not have been implemented “without good co-ordination between the EU institutions”.
“During this term of office, the most striking thing for us has been the paradigm shift that has taken place on agricultural issues. We have now moved away from the dogmatic, top-down approach of the Farm to Fork Strategy…towards greater dialogue and a more strategic approach to agricultural issues in recent months.
“Beyond the political display, Farm to Fork quickly showed the limits of a vision with no assessment and no thought given to implementation. This problematic method was recognised first and foremost by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who decided in September 2023 to launch a ‘Strategic Dialogue for the Future of Agriculture’,” they said.
However, the Copa and Cogeca presidents added that there is a number of farming issues, including plant protection products and animal welfare, that the current commission and parliament have not made final decisions on and which will have to be decided in the next term.
“This change of method will have to be confirmed on these issues after the elections. To continue with ideology or sterile polarisation would be to waste precious time,” they said.
“It is essential for political parties and voters to bring to parliament MEPs who work on these issues and have personal knowledge of the problems facing European agriculture and rural areas. We are convinced that this issue of the rural-urban divide must be addressed at European level.”
According to Copa Cogeca, agriculture is one of sectors in which the EU must be sovereign in order to “assert itself fully in the world” and to avoid dependence on other powers.
“Agriculture, forestry, and the co-operative movement must therefore regain an eminently strategic place at the heart of European thinking,” the representative group said.
The Copa and Cogeca presidents added: “In order to provide a strong legitimacy for action, and to ensure that the voice of farmers and rural people is heard in the next parliament and the commission, it is essential today, even more than yesterday, that European farmers get involved and vote.”