After more than three years of complex negotiations, Copa and Cogeca welcome the timely adoption by the European Parliament on the future CAP. With around 70% of the votes being in favour on the three regulations of the future CAP, the EU Parliament gives a final confirmation to the compromise found in the trilogues earlier in June. Still, this vote does not mark an end as there are several key steps to be taken before this new CAP becomes operational. Many uncertainties remain on the calendar, on the coherence and the implementation, both at EU and national level.
Today’s confirmation vote on the framework for the new CAP in Strasbourg is another step in the process that will lead to the establishment of the 2023-2027 CAP. This vote on the compromise that took shape in the trilogues during the spring of 2021, is adding new environmental, climate and social requirements to the existing Commission’s proposal. As a matter of fact, 15 out of 22 result indicators established in this new CAP are on the environmental dimension. This will represent a real challenge for the European farming community. Preparedness and anticipation are now crucial. It was therefore a priority for the European Parliament to confirm a clear course. Now Member States need to design practical, easy to understand and implementable measures to help farmers in delivering on these challenging objectives.
Reacting to the outcome of the vote Christiane Lambert, Copa president declared, “The European Parliament today gives European farmers and their cooperatives the policy tool to continue their efforts to produce more sustainably. The new climate, social and environmental requirements included in the newly adopted CAP represents an evolution of farmers’ commitments to produce more sustainably. It will demand considerable efforts at a time when the short-term challenges and uncertainties are many and are putting the sector’s competitiveness at stake. We now count on the national authorities and the European Commission for a quick adoption of the CAP Strategic Plans.”
This vote, if confirmed by the European Council in early December, marks the end of the EU legislative process. However, several questions still need to be answered in the weeks and months to come in order to clarify the full framework of the CAP. In order to grasp all possible opportunities, the overall coherence of the agreement reached on the CAP with other EU policies would need to be ensured. It is essential that the regulatory work in Brussels continues at a fast pace and that the package is swiftly approved. The CAP as voted by the EP today contributes to an increased sustainability and performance from an environmental, climate and animal welfare point of view. In this transition, nobody should get left behind starting with the farmers.
For Ramon Armengol, Cogeca president, “The National Strategic Plans must seriously consider the future of investments in agriculture and the innovations that we will need to feed Europe’s future. Investments will be key for farmers and their cooperatives in the future CAP to improve the overall performance and the sustainability of their holdings. National strategic plans should reinforce the role and the tools given to producer organisations – such as cooperatives – to diversify productions, to reduce costs and undertake ambitious collective actions. This is why the cooperation measure under rural development is so important to the farming community.”
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