The European Commissioner-designate for Agriculture and Food, Christophe Hansen from Luxembourg, made a fairly good impression at his hearing of just over three hours before MEPs in Brussels on Monday 4 November, calling for a “strong budget” for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2027 and pledging to review certain rules of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) and the Unfair Trading Practices Directive.
The son and brother of farmers, and cousin of Luxembourg’s current Minister of Agriculture, in his opening remarks to the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee, called for “better policy coordination” on issues such as adaptation to climate change, resilience for water systems, animal welfare and many other initiatives that have a direct impact on farmers and consumers.
“These principles will guide me as I prepare the vision for agriculture and food that the President of the European Commission has asked me to draft in the first 100 days of my mandate. I will take into account a plurality of viewpoints and all the links in the agri-food value chain”, promised the Commissioner-designate (see EUROPE 13510/14).
Generational renewal will be central to our thinking over the next five years. Why? Because only 10% of farmers are under 40 at the moment, pointed out Mr Hansen, who is affiliated to the EPP. He called for a European farmland observatory to be set up to improve access to land for young farmers.
Another key theme is improving farmers’ incomes. Income support remains an essential element, “but all the farmers I’ve met so far tell me that they’d rather get a decent return for their produce than receive public support. They want a fair return from the market”, insisted Mr Hansen.
CAP budget. Responding to questions from a number of MEPs, including Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, Italian), Mr Hansen admitted that any cuts to the CAP budget would be a “disaster”. He called for a “strong budget dedicated to the CAP” and additional sources of income such as carbon farming (paying farmers who adopt regenerative agronomic practices according to tonnes of CO2), and said that EU farmers should be able to benefit from the ‘Just Transition Fund’, which still has funds available.
The ‘external convergence’ of direct aid is a subject that will feature prominently on the agenda of the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and the reform of the CAP, said Mr Hansen, acknowledging that phasing out this mechanism (aimed at gradually adjusting aid to income per hectare in each country, either upwards or downwards, to bring it closer to the EU average) will not be easy.
Markets and unfair practices. Dario Nardella (S&D, Italian) asked the future Commissioner about forthcoming reforms to the Common Market Organisation (CMO) Regulation and the Unfair Trading Practices Directive. Mr Hansen confirmed that he would shortly be proposing a revision of the CMO, in particular to make it easier to join producer organisations. The aim would also be to strengthen the position of producers in negotiating and concluding contracts for the supply of agricultural products, to encourage cooperation and to improve price transmission.
Similarly, in order to better protect farmers against unfair commercial practices, he intends to propose new rules on cross-border enforcement under the Unfair Trading Practices Directive. The Commission must first carry out an analysis of this legislation next year, “to see what works and what doesn’t”, said Mr Hansen.
Reciprocity of standards. Responding to Carlo Fidanza (ECR, Italian) on the unfair competition affecting EU farmers, Mr Hansen stressed the need to work on reciprocity. In particular, he stressed that it was for this reason that an additional protocol was being negotiated as part of the free trade agreement between the EU and the Mercosur countries. There are other examples of mirror clauses, notably in the Deforestation Regulation or the EU ban on imports of products treated with neonicotinoids (bee-killing pesticides).
“We need to do more to have a real method of reciprocity”, said the Commissioner-designate, who also cited the new chapters on fair trade in trade agreements with third countries. And we need to better protect our geographical indications in third countries, he added.
On Mercosur, he felt that the existence of an agreement was “in the interests of our farmers”. He acknowledged that certain sectors (beef) were weakened, but the EU already imports 200,000 tonnes of meat from these Mercosur countries, added the Commissioner-designate.
Product promotion. Mr Fidanza objected to the reduction in Community funding for the promotion of meat products and wine. This budget must be maintained, and an amending letter from the Commission on the 2024 budget provides an additional €40 million for the promotion of multi-country programmes. “This should help in the short term”, according to the candidate for the post of Commissioner for Agriculture.
Simplification. Mr Hansen welcomed the package of measures from last March, but acknowledged that further simplification work was needed. He referred in particular to the increased use of lump sums and the need to be “less strict” with regard to small farmers.
Innovation. In response to questions from Mr Nardella, Mr Hansen pointed out that the European Investment Bank (EIB) had estimated the investment gap at €60 billion a year. “If we don’t modernise our production systems, competitiveness will suffer”. The Commissioner-designate intends to push for new possibilities for EIB loans for innovation for young farmers, to reduce the risks associated with capital.
Mr Hansen has never been a Minister, but his negotiating skills in Parliament have been noted, particularly when he was EPP coordinator on the Committee on International Trade. There was an emotional moment in the Chamber when Mr Hansen drew a link between the economic difficulties and psychological pressure suffered by farmers and the recent death of his brother, himself a farmer.
Finally, Raffaele Stancanelli (Patriots for Europe, Italian) criticised the cordon sanitaire, a political practice aimed at excluding far-right political parties from any political majority. Mr Hansen expressed his willingness to work with all the elected members of this Parliament, as “everyone here is democratically elected”. However, he believes that it is important to share common European values and contribute to European unity. He cited the defence of the Rule of Law, European democracy and a lasting and just peace in Ukraine. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)