Christiane Lambert, President of the Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations in the EU (COPA), said at a press conference on Friday 18 June that we should not ‘get ahead of ourselves’ when it comes to integrating the EU’s Green Deal into the future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The three EU institutions will try to reach an agreement on the elements of the new CAP next week (see other news).
Ms Lambert criticised the fact that on the subject of integrating the Green Deal into the CAP, European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans is too present, while Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski is much less so.
In her view, Mr Timmermans should not criticise the EU’s agriculture ministers.
“One thing at a time”, insisted Ms Lambert, for whom the new elements of the CAP are already in line with the European Green Deal. “There is no comprehensive impact assessment on the subject, except for one from the US”, she added.
COPA’s President added this criticism: “The pitched battle that Mr Timmermans is organising is not serious, it is even insulting to farmers”.
No green sanctions. Christiane Lambert said that eco-regimes, “which will represent 25-30% of the support paid to farmers”, should not be a “green sanction” for farmers, but a “support” for agricultural transition.
Direct support must be an important foundation for farmers, the FNSEA president added.
She criticised those who believe that the green architecture of the future CAP lacks ambition. “We have results in reducing plant protection products and antibiotics”, Ms Lambert said. And progress is also being made on biodiversity.
On the subject of good agricultural and environmental conditions (GAEC), the schemes envisaged are not feasible on the ground, Ms Lambert warned.
“Setting up per-parcel rotations, changing crops every year, no agronomist has shown that this is positive on a large scale”, she said.
Ms Lambert regretted that this measure targets maize and crop rotations of wheat on wheat and barley on barley and livestock in mountain areas. “More than 25 Ministers of Agriculture from EU countries agree with us” on this request, which concerns the GAEC 8.
The President of COPA also warned that 10% of production areas should not be removed, as some want to do under GAEC 9.
Social conditionality. All farmers must respect the labour laws in their own Member State. And within the EU-27, sanctions exist for those who break the rules.
“We do not want to have a double sanction by applying economic sanctions in addition to national sanctions. Economic sanctions through social conditionality should not be included in the CAP”, Christiane Lambert asserted. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)