Pekka Pesonen, Secretary General of the EU’s agricultural organisations and cooperatives (Copa-Cogeca), is optimistic that a political agreement between EU institutions on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy will be reached by the end of June (see EUROPE 12733/7). In an interview with EUROPE on Tuesday 8 June, he believes that the compromise on the table on green architecture would result in significant investment by EU farmers. (Interview by Lionel Changeur)
(Agence Europe) - Do you think there will be an agreement between the EU institutions at the end of June on the reform of the CAP?
Pekka Pesonen - We have to remain optimistic and we see that there is a genuine will among the institutions to come up with an agreement by the end of June, within the mandate of the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council. In the last round of negotiations at the end of May, the European Commission did not act as an ‘honest broker’. It was something we found very difficult to accept.
Some MEPs have denounced industry lobbying to lower the environmental ambitions of the future CAP. How do you respond to this?
If we take a look at what is on the table, it requires major investments from the farming community, it is far from ‘greenwashing’. The Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 is declining. We have less money available for farmers and we need to do more, in return for that lack of money, and we need to do this in a much more competitive international trade environment and that makes it very difficult for farmers to comply with all the rules.
On eco-schemes, would you be prepared to accept a percentage of 25%, without a ‘learning phase’?
Twenty-five percent is a compromise between 20% (EU Council position) and 30% (European Parliament position). EU Member States are very afraid of losing some of the resources. Therefore, we understand the logic of the EU Council who asks for a ‘learning curve’ and a protection. The ‘floor’ is a protection for the loss of resources. We hope that the negotiators can come up with a constructive solution to ensure that farmers can commit to the requirements and that we would not lose any funding.