Copa Cogeca, the umbrella group of EU farming organisations and agricultural cooperatives, has welcomed comments from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during the State of the EU address.
The commission president delivered the address during a plenary session of the European Parliament today (Wednesday, September 13), during which she said: “We need to work together with the farmers and people working in agriculture.”
President von der Leyen also said the EU is to embark on a “strategic dialogue on the future of agriculture”.
During her address, von der Leyen expressed her gratitude to farmers “for producing healthy food every day”.
She noted that this is “not an easy task” in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, climate change and “new obligations” on farmers.
She said these factors are “having a growing impact on farmers’ work and farmers’ incomes, and we must bear this in mind”.
Responding to President von der Leyen’s comments, Copa said: “[The] State of the EU speech was eagerly awaited by all those involved in the agricultural and forestry sector. [We] were hoping that [von der Leyen] would pay particular attention to the sectors, and we have been heard.
“As well as the mention of the appreciation for the work and resilience of the European farming community in the face of the crisis that have marked her term of office, [we] noted the confirmation of a renewed desire and shift in method at the top of the commission.”
According to Copa, this apparent shift “confirms the mission statement given to the commissioner in charge of the [European] Green Deal, Maros Sefcovic, just a few days ago”.
During her speech, President von der Leyen said: “We need more dialogue, we need less polarisation.”
Copa said: “This is a message we have been conveying for months, and, like the president of the commission, Copa and Cogeca are also “convinced that agriculture and nature protection can go hand in hand.
“We therefore welcome this morning’s announcement to open a strategic dialogue on the future of agriculture in Europe and we stand ready to contribute. Still, we await further details on the framework of this dialogue, which should form part of the preparatory work for the future CAP [Common Agricultural Policy].”
Copa added: “To avoid polarisation, we need to move away from ideological targets and factually look at the consequences of political initiatives using science-based impact assessments.
“We therefore hope that this strategic dialogue will open with an analysis of the European Green Deal policies already on the table and that any new proposals will be subject to feasibility and budgetary assessments to make EU ambition on par with its resources,” the farming organisation said.
However, Copa said it was concerned over President von der Leyen’s “determination to conclude trade negotiations with the Mercosur bloc”, calling for commitments from Mercosur members to environmental sustainability.