Copa and Cogeca believe that the EU Commission Communication on the future of food and farming is a good basis to work on. But guarantees are needed to ensure that simplification will deliver results for farmers, that the CAP truly remains a common policy without any renationalisation and that it is backed by a strong budget, Copa and Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen said in a high-level meeting with the Bulgarian Presidency.
He welcomed EU Commissioner Oettinger’s plan to raise the EU budget to between 1.1 and 1.2% of the EU’s Gross National Income (GNI) in order to fund the future CAP and to make up for budget shortfall arising from the exit of the UK from the EU as well as for the increased challenges of migration and security.
Outlining key points, he said “It is good news that both pillars of the CAP will be kept. Direct payments must remain in the first pillar of the CAP at current levels, without co-funding. With farmer’s incomes at 40% of average earnings, de-coupled support is economically vital to support farmer’s incomes and help them deal with risk. Voluntary coupled support is also important to keep production alive in vulnerable rural areas of the EU”.
“But we are worried about the new delivery model in the Commission proposal and want to make sure that it does not amount to re-nationalisation of the CAP and it contributes to improving the environmental status and, most of all, it is simple to use”, Pesonen added.
He also welcomed the fact that the bioeconomy was included in the EU Commission Communication, underlining that the EU agriculture and forestry sectors contribute to tackling climate change, but more research, innovation, advisory services, knowledge transfer and investments are needed to maximise it’s potential. Increased coherence between different EU policies, such as EFSI, is crucial too.
He concluded by underlining the importance of an EU protein crop strategy, the environmental benefits of protein crops and the need to develop better performing varieties for agronomic reasons. “EU biofuel co-products and Processed Animal Proteins are valuable sources of our own protein supply for feed”, he concluded.
