Brussels, 08/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - In Paris on Tuesday 7 January, Stéphane Le Foll, the French agriculture minister, met his German counterpart Hans-Peter Friedrich, the Federal minister for food and agriculture. This is the first contact at this level following the creation of the new German coalition government.
It was Friedrich's first trip abroad, “demonstrating the importance which France and Germany attach to the solidity of their relationship and their cooperation on agricultural issues”, said the French Ministry of Agriculture (our translation throughout).
“This meeting has highlighted a shared vision aiming to combine production imperatives and environmental imperatives”, said Le Foll. The ministers decided to set up a Franco-German working group on agri-ecology.
They also noted a similarity of opinions in a number of important choices concerning the implementation of the reform of the CAP (common agriculture policy). In particular, France and Germany have a shared ambition to support family farms and have decided to set up redistributive payments on the first certain number of hectares. They have also decided to use the transfer options from the first pillar (direct aid and market expenditure) to the second (rural development).
Agriculture's place within society, and particularly taking on board consumer expectations, were also a subject of their talks. In particular, the ministers share the concern of being able to provide consumers with the best possible information about the origin of products.
Lastly, the ministers agreed on the need for attention to be paid to agriculture in the framework of trade negotiations, particularly those currently underway with the United States.
Le Foll will visit Germany on 17 and 18 January as part of of the Grüne Woche. (LC/transl.fl)