Regionalising the management of the CAP would help to identify better and react to the problems that farmers are facing
The President of the European Committee of the Regions, Vasco Alves Cordeiro, met in Brussels with the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, with whom he addressed the growing concerns expressed by farmers across the EU, regarding pressures on their incomes, profitability and the regulation of the sector within the EU framework.
Referring to the meeting, Vasco Cordeiro said: "I am glad to meet Commissioner Wojciechowski to bring the voice of regions and cities and build solutions for farmers."
The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) has long advocated for the key role regions and cities should play in managing and implementing agriculture policy to better tailor funds and rural development measures to specific territorial realities. In the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, the CoR raised the need to tackle the imbalances, with 80% of direct payments going to a small portion of beneficiaries creating a big distortion between large and small farms. Distribution is also unbalanced from a territorial point of view.
"The Common Agricultural Policy is a necessary EU instrument to accompany the farmers towards better income and through the ecological transition. We cannot allow agriculture sustainability and environmental protection to become mutually exclusive goals. They are both necessary to build a just transition and a better future for our agriculture, environment and territories", President Cordeiro added.
The European Committee of the Regions also calls to fight against unfair commercial practices and to better protect the farmers position and the distribution of income along the supply chain.
“To tackle the rising discontent across Europe, regions and cities must be at the table to help finding solutions and build bridges with people's everyday lives. The current Strategic Dialogues on the Future of EU Agriculture, launched by the European Commission, does not include a single local or regional authority. We want to contribute with the answers for people's future", President Cordeiro concluded.
The CoR considers that only a renewed partnership among EU, national and regional institutions can boost the recovery of rural areas and the greening of Europe's agriculture.
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