On Friday 24 April, the EU’s agricultural organisations and cooperatives (Copa-Cogeca) called for the preservation of a “strong, unified and transparent” Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2027, in the context of negotiations on the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028-2034 (see other news).
In a position paper, Copa-Cogeca argues in favour of maintaining an agricultural budget at least equivalent to the current one, adjusted for inflation. Industry representatives are opposed to the integration of the CAP into a single national and regional partnership plan (NRPP), which they believe would undermine the common nature of agricultural policy and create distortions between Member States. In the absence of a separate CAP budget, they are calling for clearly identified and protected sub-headings to be created.
Copa-Cogeca suggests increasing the rural target in the NRPP partnership plans from 10% to at least 20%.
The organisation rejects the introduction of the ‘Do No Significant Harm’ (DNSH) principle in agricultural interventions. It believes that this approach would add another layer of administrative complexity and legal uncertainty, without delivering any environmental benefits to a sector that is already heavily regulated.
The performance framework proposed by the European Commission is also considered to be too complex and overly focused on environmental objectives.
Concerning income support, Copa-Cogeca insists on maintaining direct payments per hectare for all farmers, regardless of the size of their holdings or legal status. It is opposed to the compulsory capping and imposed degressivity of aid, which it considers counter-productive for rural employment and food production.
In terms of the environment, the organisation advocates an approach based on voluntary action and economic incentives, rejecting any general requirement regarding extensification, organic farming or social conditionality.
Copa-Cogeca is also calling for a strengthening of risk management tools (insurance, mutual funds and faster crisis response mechanisms), as well as increased support for investment, particularly in water management and adaptation to climate change.
Finally, agricultural organisations are calling for inspections to be simplified and for farmers to be granted a “right to make mistakes”.
Position paper on the MFF and the CAP: https://aeur.eu/f/low
Copa-Cogeca has also adopted its position on the text of the common market organisation (https://aeur.eu/f/lot ) and on the European Competitiveness Fund (https://aeur.eu/f/lov ). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)