Outlining his programme for the next two years, Mr Botterman said “A top priority for me is to think how we can tackle the problem of undeclared work in the EU agriculture sector in a more effective way to improve the situation for farm workers and to cut red tape for employers. A big problem with the present system is that its very bureaucratic and creates a lot of red tape for agriculture employers, encouraging undeclared work. This must be dealt with. We are working on a project on this with support from the EU Commission. Also there is the issue of political refugees from countries like Syria. We have to see how they can benefit from farm employment”.
Mr.Botterman is a member of the Belgian farm organisation and was appointed head of social affairs in 2001 with a degree in Law. He has also been President of Geopa-Copa since 2011. He will be supported by two Vice-President Veli-Matti Rekola from MTA Finland and Joseph Lechner from FNSEA France. Speaking after the vote, Mr Lechner underlined the benefits of agriculture holdings to tackle unemployment which is particularly high in France. Mr Rekola also drew attention to the current economic climate which affects jobs, stressing that agriculture is a good source of employment and it is good to cut red tape in order to boost jobs and growth.
