Splits over the Strategic Dialogue on the future of EU agriculture: “CAP funds need to be better targeted”

A step forward to bring farmers to the center of the European debate and more attention to the CAP, whose funds must be distributed in a fair and targeted manner. 

This is what has emerged on Monday 16th of September at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, after the debate on the outcome of the Strategic Dialogue on the future of Eu agriculture. 

The Strategic Dialogue, launched by the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the the beginning of 2023, aims to protect the entire agrifood supply chain and bring together all the stakeholders of the sector to seek the best solutions for making European agriculture more competitive, resilient, and sustainable. 

Last week in Brussels, Professor Peter Strohschneider had delivered to von der Leyen the final report of the Strategic Dialogue, a document drafted by the Dialogue’s 29 members and containing recommendations for the Commission to be considered for the future of agriculture in Europe. 

“This is a key debate: the final report was accepted by all 29 members, underscoring an important spirit of cooperation,” commented Mairead McGuinness, the European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets.

“Among the main points, – McGuinness added –  there is a focus on a fair income for farmers, incentives for those who practice sustainable agriculture, and cuts in red tape and controls. The entire food supply chain must be sustainable, but the ecological transition and the future of farmers also depend on our ability to meet the climate goals we have set.” 

During the debate, many MEPs have spoken in favour, stressing the importance of the spirit of collaboration that has characterized the Dialogue and how this can be a good starting point for new CAP funding. 

“We welcome the outcome of the Dialogue, farmers are finally at the center of the discussion tables in Europe. More targeted funding with the CAP and less bans and impositions: this is the right way forward,” commented Germany’s Norbert Lins (EPP). “It is our duty to make farmers’ voices heard: the ecological transition will not be easy and the Union must be ready to make sacrifices: as indicated in the Dialogue’s recommendations, a first good compromise will be the creation of a fund outside the CAP and dedicated to the ecological and agricultural transition,” added Italian MEP Antonio Decaro (S&D).

Not all parliamentarians, however, welcomed the Dialogue’s outcome, such as the French Gilles Pennelle (Patriots for Europe), who stated to be “concerned because the anger of our country’s farmers has not been heard. We are being asked to meet even more environmental standards and animal meat production is being stigmatized”; ‘the report is full of regulations and bureaucracy, there is no proposal for a working reform of the CAP” added Veronika Vrecionová, Czech MEP from ECR. 

Among the main concerns raised during the parliamentary debate, also the reduction of animal meat consumption in favor of plant proteins and the need for new and targeted funding for the CAP. 

Following the discussion in Strasbourg, the Final Report of the Strategic Dialogue is now under consideration by the European Commission, with the recommendations in the document to feed into the Vision for agriculture and food to be presented in the first 100 days of this term.