On Thursday 19 June in Brussels, the Presidents of Copa and Cogeca, the main European agricultural organisations, launched a petition titled nosecuritywithoutcap.eu to mobilise society and politicians against the European Commission’s plans for the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028-2034.
These organisations are firmly opposed to the idea of a Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) “diluted” into a “single fund” for each Member State, which would bring together different European policies. They also fear a reduction in the CAP budget post-2027, in the proposals expected on 16 July for the next MFF.
For Massimiliano Giansanti, President of Copa, there is a great risk of seeing a reduction in funding and a loss of the common nature of the CAP. Speaking to the press, he stressed the need for European agriculture to produce more and be more competitive on the markets: “This is why we are really engaged in a hard discussion with all for protecting our farmers, for protecting our production, for protecting our citizens, for protecting our economy”, he stated. He said that he had received many promises from the European institutions regarding the role of farmers. “Now is the moment to see how important farmers are to the EU institutions”. According to him, “there are so many rumours. We have to see what happens on the middle of July”.
He continued: “But now, it’s not the moment to discuss on the instruments. We have to discuss about the amount of the budget. It’s very important to know how many euros the Commission wants to put on the future of the farmers. Then we discuss about the measures, the instruments”.
“With a single fund, we don’t have any guarantees that it can remain a common agriculture policy”, warned the President of Copa.
Lennart Nilsson, President of Cogeca, also opposed “any merging of the CAP into a single fund, as well as any major reform of the CAP planned for July, without any real dialogue or consultation”.
With regard to the controversial EU-Mercosur agreement, Massimiliano Giansanti has clearly said ‘no’ to this free trade project: “It’s impossible to accept the Mercosur with what we read inside of the agreement, because in Mercosur, we don't find any reciprocity in the standards of productions”, he argued.
He called for greater attention from European and South American institutions to find a solution that would protect European farmers, while also respecting South American farmers.
He pointed out that many sectors are under pressure, due to the war in Ukraine or other forthcoming trade agreements, notably with India.
“If you look at what is happening in egg, milk, beef, sugar and rice production, these sectors are under attack and we need to protect our farmers”, concluded the President of Copa.
Link to the petition: https://aeur.eu/f/hfu (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)