With a three-month public consultation on the future of the common agricultural policy (CAP) due to be launched on 2 February, Copa and Cogeca, the farmers’ and agri-cooperatives organisations in the EU, have begun to develop their position for a strong CAP with, at a minimum, the same level of funding as at present (see EUROPE 11712).
On Thursday 2 February, the European Commission will launch a public consultation on the future of the CAP (see EUROPE 11708). The Presidents of Copa and Cogeca will hold discussions with European Commissioner Phil Hogan on the post-2020 CAP on 9 February. The Agriculture Council will debate the future of the policy on 6 March and the Commission will publish a communication on the future of the CAP before the end of 2017.
At this stage in their deliberations, Copa and Cogeca consider that sustainability should be the watchword in the debate and that the three pillars of sustainability (economic, environmental and social) “must be addressed and in a balanced and equal manner”.
A strong CAP and more risk and crisis management tools. Copa and Cogeca argue, of course, for a stronger and more stable CAP. The EU’s multiannual financial framework (MFF) after 2020 should at least maintain the funding of the CAP at its current level, which is less than 1% of total public expenditure in the EU.
The organisations call for the current measures to address market volatility – direct payments, market safety nets and risk insurance – to be maintained in the future. It should, however, be possible to trigger these tools more swiftly. Furthermore, the agricultural organisations would like to see more tools put in place to help farmers manage risk and they call for the development of futures markets. Another of their suggestions is not to authorise more credit transfers between the first pillar (direct aid and market measures) and the second (rural development).
Copa and Cogeca also call for more to be done to simplify CAP rules and they oppose Commission plans to ban the use of pesticides for protein crops in ecological focus areas (see EUROPE 11698). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)