PRESS RELEASE
COPA-COGECA SLAMS EU COMMISSION PLANS TO SIDELINE ECONOMIC
OBJECTIVES OF CAP IN EU BUDGET PLANS
Copa-Cogeca slammed today EU Commission plans to sideline the economic objectives of the Common
Agricultural Policy (CAP) in it’s review of the EU budget.
Copa President Padraig Walshe warned “The EU cannot achieve environmental and climate change
objectives unless farmers are economically viable. Reinforcing the economic role of farmers in producing
food must be central to the future CAP. Faced with rising food demand combined with climate change
and increasing market volatility, food security can no longer be taken for granted. Copa-Cogeca fully
supports safeguarding the countryside, but the best way to ensure this is to make sure that farmers are
economically viable, with a fair income. The Commission’s new proposal for a mandatory greening of the
CAP, could only be envisaged if there were an increase in the current CAP budget”.
The Commission’s future budget plan raises the possibility of giving priority to environmental and
climate change objectives in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) rather than to economic objectives.
Cogeca President Paolo Bruni insisted “The EU agri-food sector, with its 28 million employed people,
must remain competitive. EU farmers and consumers are already facing increasing price volatility and
their market returns are being squeezed. The bargaining power of farmers and cooperatives in the food
chain must be strengthened, to enable them to see better prices. European competition rules must be
adjusted to enable cooperatives and producer organisation to grow in size and scale, giving them more
power in the food supply chain”.
Copa-Cogeca consequently urges the EU Commission, MEPs, and EU Ministers to reflect on these plans
and make sure that EU farmers and cooperatives have an economically viable future. This is the only
way that they can deliver on environmental and climate change objectives.