Farmers from Italy, France and Germany defend their sector

On the eve of a meeting between the Council, Parliament and the EU Commission (Trilogue) that could be decisive for the new Common Agricultural Policy, the Presidents of Confagricoltura, Massimiliano Giansanti, FNSEA, Christiane Lambert and DBV-Deutscher Bauernverband, Joachim Rukwied not only in representatives of French, Italian and German farmers, but the president, vice president and former president of COPA, respectively, express their concern about the ongoing discussion on the CAP.

30/04/2021

Agro Defense

“The CAP is, and must remain, an economic policy – argue the three presidents – designed to stabilize and support farmers' incomes, as set out in the EU Treaty, while addressing current environmental challenges at the same time. time".

Climate Change

“At the moment, however - Giansanti emphasizes - our sector is being attacked by those who would like to discharge the main responsibilities of climate and environmental changes in agriculture, without being aware of the extent to which agricultural companies are indispensable for the good of all : without competitive companies and without agriculture we will eat synthetic food imported from countries that do not respect our production standards in terms of safety, quality and also social and environmental rights ”.

Confagricoltura, FNSEA and DBV are calling for more flexibility in implementing the green architecture and no more administrative burden for agricultural companies, which already struggle with a heavy bureaucracy.

Germany, Italy and France

All three associations support a greener CAP, easy to implement, attractive to farmers and efficient.

Regarding social conditionality, the three presidents point out that France, Italy and Germany already have strict rules on labor and welfare legislation and that this new provision introduces more elements of bureaucracy.

An agriculture for the environment

“In the future CAP - underlines President Lambert of Paris - the fight against climate change and the protection of the environment must be reconciled with economic aspects. Farmers are committed to addressing these challenges. The instruments of the CAP can support them precisely for an even more sustainable agriculture ”.

“It is essential for the primary sector - stresses President Rukwied from Berlin - that the new CAP allows European farmers to continue to produce safe and nutritious food, as well as to protect biodiversity and the climate. For this reason, the income support function of the CAP is of fundamental importance, both to address the markets and to respond to ecological challenges ”.