On Monday 9 July, the members of the European Parliament committee on agriculture in Brussels expressed their wish to reach a first-reading agreement in March 2019 on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) beyond 2020.
Several MEPs noted contradictions in the Austrian position on the proposals for the multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2021-2027: Chancellor Sebastian Kurz does not want to give a single euro more to the EU budget, while the federal minister for sustainable development and tourism, Elisabeth Köstinger, objects to lowering CAP funding.
As Köstinger had given birth to a son only the day before, it was Juliane Bogner-Strauss, the federal minister for the status of women, families and youth, who presented the agricultural priorities of the Austrian presidency of the Council of the EU, on Monday.
The two top priorities are reform of CAP and the position of farmers in the food supply chain (see EUROPE 12057). Other priorities include, she said, the “protein plan”, organic production, the monitoring of agricultural markets, and international negotiations on trade agreements.
Juliane Bogner-Strauss underlined a number of themes such as simplification of CAP, family farms, young farmers and quality produce. She said there is still much to be done to combat unfair trading practice (see related article).
In response to questions on the MFF and CAP raised by MEPs – including Eric Andrieu (S&D, France), Zbigniew Kuzmiuk (ECR, Poland), Herbert Dofmann (EPP, Italy), Martin Häusling (Greens/EFA, Germany) and Ulrike Müller (ALDE, Germany) - Bogner-Strauss promised that intensive negotiation will be held by the end of the year on CAP post-2020. “We shall do everything possible to move forward on this”, she said. She did not wish to comment on negotiations on MFF, but said that the CAP should have “sufficient funding at European level”. Finally, she urged for balanced trade agreements (and the taking into account of sensitive sectors).
Only Martin Häusling stressed that one should not hurry to conclude negotiations on CAP post-2020 in six months. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)