Commissioned by the European Commission, the document calls for the creation of a specific fund dedicated to the ecological transition of the sector.
Report commissioned by European Commission calls for future Common Agricultural Policy to be refocused on farmers “who need it most” and advocates for the creation of a specific fund dedicated to the ecological transition of the sector. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had commissioned this report in early 2024 in the midst of agricultural anger in several European countries. The result of a “strategic dialogue” between agricultural stakeholders and environmental NGOs, led by German academic Peter Strohschneider, the document presented on Wednesday calls for a structural reform of the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and its 387 billion euros of funding.
The negotiation of the future CAP (2028-2034) is one of the sensitive issues of the new European Commission currently being installed. Rather than calculating aid based on the size of farms, the report recommends a “much more targeted income support” to farmers “who need it most” in order to “to prevent the abandonment of farms” and allow them to “have a decent income”. He calls for support for the “small and mixed farms, young farmers, new entrants and farmers established in areas subject to natural constraints”.
The environmental NGO Greenpeace supported the report, judging the current functioning of the CAP “stupid” because too favorable to “factory farms”. In terms of ecological transition, the report also estimates that a “temporary fund for a just transition should be set up outside the CAP to complement the support for the rapid transition of the sector”Faced with the farmers’ angry movement, Brussels made a series of concessions at the start of 2024, going back on part of the ambitions of the green pact, the «Green Deal »even if it means attracting criticism from NGOs.
Speaking to the press on Wednesday, Ursula von der Leyen claimed a “new approach” with farmers, more “trusted” and less bureaucracy, while emphasizing its commitment to “climate goals”. “We must support an agriculture that works for nature and with nature”she assured.
