On Tuesday 8 April, the European Agriculture and Food Commissioner, Christophe Hansen, said in Brussels that he was planning to visit Japan in June and “possibly” Latin America this year in order to find new markets for European agricultural exports, against the backdrop of trade tensions linked to US tariffs.
Mr Hansen gave an explanation to members of the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee of the measures taken in recent months and the plans for the future to support EU agricultural producers in the current geopolitical context.
On the subject of “trade tensions” with the United States, the Commissioner admitted that “certain key exports are likely to slow down in the coming months” and stressed the importance for the European agri-food sector of “diversifying” and creating new partnerships with third countries.
In this context, he announced that he planned to lead a mission to Japan next June and that he would “possibly” carry out another mission to Latin America (and specifically Brazil) in the second half of the year. The aim of these trips and contacts with third countries will be to try to “rebalance” the current trade “tensions”, he said. He also stressed the need for a “safety net” for producers, and insisted on the need to be “better prepared” for any type of situation.
Simplification. The Commissioner indicated that the simplification package would be adopted by the European Commission on 14 May. “We are looking for concrete simplification regarding farms, which will also strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of farmers”, he told MEPs. Mr Hansen also spoke of improving digitisation and reducing the burden on national authorities in managing the strategic plans of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). He also noted: - simplification of requirements to take better account of different farming situations and practices, including organic farming; - rationalisation of support for small and medium-sized farms through the greater use of simplified payments; - simplified planning and access to financial instruments; - considerable flexibility for Member States in managing strategic plans, to take account of specific national characteristics and territorial differences.
Post-2027 CAP. According to the Commissioner, we need to see how policy can be significantly changed in terms of the rules for distributing funds and simplifying the green architecture, “which should be geared more towards an incentive-based approach”.
Mr Hansen will also present a generational renewal strategy aimed at “removing the obstacles facing young people who want to become farmers, such as access to land, access to capital and access to skills”.
He said he would defend an increase in the CAP budget for 2028-2034. “0.3% of the GDP of EU countries” for the agricultural budget “is not too much” to guarantee production in all regions. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)