The European Commission wants to “ease the pressure on farmers by reducing the administrative burden, together with member states,” president, Ursula von der Leyden said today (Tuesday, March 26) in Brussels.
She also pledged that “farmers can count on the EU as a reliable partner”.
Addressing the Forum for the Future of Agriculture (ForumforAg) annual conference today, President von Der Leyden, said agriculture and food security are currently “very high on the political agenda and rightly so”.
“In the past years, Europe’s agri-food sector has shown remarkable resilience.
“It weathered a pandemic and an energy crisis. The European Union supported you then, and it will continue to do so,” the president pledged.
She said it would do this by first easing the pressure on farmers by reducing the “administrative burden”.
“We have taken first steps, and we hope to reach agreement on further measures in the coming weeks.
“Second, we will continue to support the agri-food sector in the current transition.
“Farmers are experiencing the impact of climate change first hand. In parts of Europe, the agri-food sector is already confronted with extreme temperatures, droughts, wildfires and floods,” President von der Leyden added.
However she did acknowledge that this “transition” for the agri-food sector would come at a price.
“Many farmers have to buy new machinery, or introduce new technologies. But we also know that they are ready to lead sustainable practices when they are supported.
“The benefits are immense. First for farmers, with innovation come higher yields, and more resilient business cases. Second for the environment, more biodiversity, better water quality, and healthier soil,” she outlined.
Von der Leyen
President von Der Leyden also highlighted that to advance sustainable practises, the EU has committed more than 30% of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget.
She told the international audience who attended the one day ForumforAg annual conference that the third example of how the European Commission was supporting farmers was by “working towards a new consensus on the future of agriculture”.
“I am deeply convinced that we can only overcome the challenges that the agri-food sector is facing, together,” President von der Leyden added.
The chair of the ForumforAg annual conference Dr. Janez Potocnik, also stressed that farmers need to be “able to live a decent life” in relation to the green agriculture “transition”.
“The food system transition is a must.
“We all need to actively contribute to this transition, We should aim for healthy living and living healthy,” he urged.
The annual conference focused on the theme of “Restoring the opportunity for food system transformation” this year.
Dr. Potocnik said that farmers alone should not bear the cost of the green agriculture transition and said instead farmers should be supported by all stakeholders.