Portuguese Presidency, Member States’ recommendations and draft Eco-scheme list: CAP reform is moving forward
On 1 January, Germany handed over the EU Council Presidency to Portugal. The Portuguese Presidency aims to finalise the CAP trilogues by this semester’s end. As Portugal wants Europe to be ‘better prepared to face future crisis’, resilience will key to the new Presidency’s work. The Social Pillar and enhancement of social, health and education policies will be high on its agenda, possibly with consequences for the ongoing CAP reform. Read the Portuguese Council Presidency’s full programme on its website.
In a bid to increase transparency, Portugal’s Agriculture Minister Maria do Céu Antunes promised to publish a 4- column table after each trilogue meeting, to “provide a view of what has already been discussed”. This corresponds to one of IFOAM Organics Europe’s key demands on transparency, explained in a common letter with environmental NGOs sent last autumn.
CAP strategic plan recommendations: Members can provide their input
Parallel to ongoing negotiations, the European Commission published CAP strategic plan recommendations tailored to Member States a few weeks ago. These country-by-country recommendations are based on national analyses of the state of play, needs and priorities for agriculture and rural areas in relation to Green Deal targets.
To make sure that those recommendations are fully taken into account and that organic farmers are well represented in the participating process, IFOAM Organics Europe will circulate a questionnaire for its members in the coming weeks. We encourage IFOAM Organics Europe members to keep an eye on the member extranet for updates.
Protests to current CAP reform continue
In Germany, many actors are disappointed with the current reform. On 18 January, they demonstrated in front of the Bundestag (German parliament) under the motto ‘Agrarwende lostreten’ (kick the agricultural turnaround off). “We are fed up with the excuses and delays our government is causing in reforming the farming sector,” said Saskia Richartz, the movement’s spokesperson. The demonstration was led by hundreds of organic and conventional, small-scale farmers with their tractors. Many more farmers joined demonstrators from across Germany and 12 other European countries (ES, FR, PL, IT, AT, UK, BE, SE, RO, SK, LV and CH). The movement for agricultural reform in Germany and Europe is growing in strength, in particular through cooperation across borders with the Good Food Good Farming campaign. IFOAM Organics Europe is on the Steering Committee of the campaign.
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