Speaking at the hearing at European Parliament, Copa President Padraig Walshe said “Never before has the market been so volatile. Yet at the same time world food demand is projected to more than double by 2050. A strong CAP, which focuses on strengthening the economic role of farmers in providing food and services, is consequently vital. Direct payments to active farmers and measures to manage the market are crucial to ensure stability for 13.4 million EU farmers and 500 million EU consumers.
He continued: “EU rural development policy is also needed to maintain 28 million jobs in rural areas. But we believe a fourth priority for rural policy must be established, namely “the promotion of competitive and profitable businesses and producer organisations with improved returns from the market”. Payments in Less Favoured Areas (LFAs) are also essential to maintain employment in rural areas and they must remain in the second pillar of the CAP. In addition, a further greening of the CAP, as suggested by the Commission, must also not undermine the competitiveness of the EU agri-food sector or reduce EU farmers’ production capacity. This is unacceptable since the EU is already far ahead of other countries in terms of greening its agriculture, which puts EU farmers at a competitive disadvantage”.
Cogeca President Paolo Bruni highlighted the fact that EU farmers returns from the market are constantly being eroded and the Commissions’ plans on the future CAP lack measures to make the food chain work properly.”To ensure farmers receive a greater share of their income from the market, the position of EU farmers and their cooperatives in the food chain must be reinforced. The best way to achieve this is by adjusting EU competition rules to enable producer organisations, such as cooperatives, to grow in size and scale, thus increasing their competitivity and contributing to a rebalanced food chain. We also need secure futures markets to help farmers and agri-cooperatives hedge against risks”.
He concluded by saying that it is crucial that the CAP has a strong EU budget behind it to ensure a competitive, dynamic EU agri-food sector in the years to come”.
