Copa and Cogeca, the farming and agri-cooperative organisations in the EU, presented their position on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in Brussels on Friday 27 April, stating their opposition to any reduction in agricultural funding after 2020 (see EUROPE 12009). The indications are that, on 2 May, the Commission will propose a 6% cut in agricultural spending for period from 2021 to 2027.
Copa and Cogeca call for a strong, competitive, market-oriented, more sustainable CAP based on simple, common rules across the EU. “It must be backed up by a strong budget”, they argue.
“Simplification is the number one priority. The next CAP must provide simpler rules and policy tools for farmers to use”, Copa President Joachim Rukwied stressed. “We must guarantee that the CAP remains a truly common policy without any renationalisation”, he added.
He said he was very worried about the increased level of subsidiarity in the Commission plans and the mix of policy measures between the first (direct aid) and second (rural development) pillars of the CAP. The plan to merge the current greening and cross-compliance aid into a new enhanced conditionality “will increase the conditions with which farmers have to abide” and that, in Copa and Cogeca’s view, does not amount to simplification. The new architecture governing the environment and climate requirements under the plans also still raises more questions than answers, they add.
For Cogeca President Thomas Magnusson, results-based schemes for biodiversity and potentially for soil, water and climate change mitigation under the second pillar of the CAP “must remain voluntary, complementary to the existing agri-environment schemes and easy to integrate into farming practices”.
Copa and Cogeca call for the maintenance and stabilisation of the CAP budget in real terms over the next programming period. At a cost of less than 1% of EU governments’ total expenditure, the CAP budget still delivers good value for money for all citizens across the EU, Magnusson argued. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)