On Wednesday 24 September, just as he had done at the ‘Agriculture’ Council two days earlier, the Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen fought hard to convince MEPs of the merits of the proposals on the reform and financing of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the period 2028-2034 (see EUROPE 13714/1).
Mr Hansen was grilled by the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture.
Carmen Crespo (EPP, Spanish) asked: “Why are you changing a system that used to work?”. For her, merging the funds is creating doubts. In this Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), it is the agri-food sector that is the big loser, according to Ms Crespo, who, like other MEPs, criticised the “renationalisation” of the CAP.
The EPP is therefore hoping that the European Council will block this MFF. According to Céline Imart (EPP, French), the proposal cannot constitute a working basis. She called on Mr Hansen to withdraw it.
Dario Nardella (S&D, Italian), for his part, said he appreciated the efforts made on degressive aid, young people, income support and the crisis reserve. “Nevertheless, we are opposed to the structure of the CAP proposed by the Commission”, which he sees as synonymous with the dismantling of European solidarity. Mr Nardella added that this reform is not an evolution, but a dissolution.
“Your proposal for the CAP is unacceptable”, said Mireia Borrás Pabón (PfE, Spanish). For her country, this means a 22% reduction in funding for 2028-2034, or “€10 billion less”. This reduction, in her view, is the final blow.
In the Netherlands, the budget will fall by 24% in nominal terms, added Bert-Jan Ruissen (ECR, Dutch).
Benoît Cassart (Renew Europe, Belgian), for his part, denounced a “double penalty” for farmers: a sharply reduced CAP budget and pressure on prices following the opening up of the European market to unfair competition.
“We are changing something that works very well? Is this really the case? If it worked so well, what are we doing here?”, retorted Mr Hansen. In his view, renationalisation already took place seven years ago, with the introduction of national strategic plans. “This was a strong demand from the European Parliament and the Member States”, he stressed. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)