Copa and Cogeca Secretary General Pekka Pesonen said “With farmer’s incomes at only 40% of average earnings of other sectors of the economy, Copa and Cogeca cannot accept reducing CAP spending in the future EU budget. They are the ones who produce high quality food every day and are called to deliver more for sustainability and to tackle climate change. These proposed budget cuts threaten not only farmers’ livelihoods and vast parts of Europe’s rural areas, but also the delivery of the EU’s environmental and social goals. We recognize the efforts of the Commission and of Member States to increase EU resources to respond to the upcoming political needs, but more must be done for Europe and European farmers. Copa and Cogeca consequently call for the maintenance and stabilisation of the CAP budget in real terms over the next programming period”.
The proposed cuts to the CAP budget, the uncertain outcome from the Brexit process and the cumulative impact of the concessions in the trade negotiations are just some of the elements that are putting the European beef sector under enormous pressure. Jean-Pierre Fleury, Chairman of Copa and Cogeca’s Beef Working Party, urges the EU not to give further concessions on sensitive agricultural products in the trade talks. "A Europe that protects" was the motto of the European Commission at the beginning of its mandate. Four years later, however, the EU beef sector is threatened. We wonder if the Commission is taking into consideration the cumulative impact of the trade agreements with Canada which increases access to the EU market for beef by up to 65 000 tonnes, Mexico by 20 000 tonnes, combined with the current negotiations with the Latin American trade bloc Mercosur and the upcoming ones with Australia and New Zealand where our trading partners are expecting additional concessions. This is on top of the uncertainty created by Brexit which is a big export market for our beef. We cannot accept sacrificing the livestock sector and food security in return for better conditions in other strategic sectors in the trade negotiations.
Jean-Pierre Fleury concluded “With the world population expected to grow and with the agriculture sector facing increasing challenges, now is not the time to cut back on expenditure and jeopardize the multiple benefits of agriculture. European beef producers are determined to continue working to deliver society’s expectations in terms of production systems, traceability and sustainability. But, to do this, we need to have clear political signals. So far we are seeing different and opposing ones.”
