Agriculture to remain a high priority for the next European Parliament

Copa and Cogeca congratulates Mr David Sassoli for his election as President of the European Parliament and welcome the increase in the number of seats in the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee (from 46 in previous legislative term to 48 seats).

 

Commenting on the nomination, Pekka Pesonen, Copa and Cogeca Secretary General said “We believe that this illustrates the strategic importance given by the European Parliament to topics dealt within this Committee and we hope that the selected MEPs will work together with the aim of making EU’s agriculture more competitive and more sustainable. We are pleased that a substantial number of members of this Committee have a good knowledge of farming, either through being farmers or agronomists themselves, or through their political, union or individual commitments.”

 

Copa and Cogeca also welcome positively the significant number of members of COM AGRI from the previous legislature that have been re-elected as this will ensure an easier continuation of the work, starting with the decisions of the future of CAP. It is of crucial importance that the new MEPs take advantage of the work conducted on the CAP reform by their predecessors and base their proposals on the conclusion of the AGRI Committee’s vote from April 2019. In this context, COM AGRI should remain the leading Committee for EU agricultural and rural development policies and retain its strategic responsibility. The role and responsibilities of this Committee should be strengthened in order to enhance the coordination, amongst the European Parliament, of European Union policies that impact European farmers’ and agri-cooperatives activities.

 

In addition an important opportunity for the farming sector now lies in the ability of MEPs to speak out against the recently agreed bilateral trade deal between EU and Mercosur, which has serious repercussions for several agri sectors.

 

We believe that the level of ambition that the future Parliament dedicates to European agriculture will be a good indicator of the strength of the European project, as well as the unity of the Member States.

 

We also look forward to continuing our constructive collaboration with other Committees, such as International Trade or Environment, Public Health and Food Safety whose activities are extremely relevant for the European agricultural sector. These Committees play a crucial role in maintaining European high standards and promoting sustainability in food chain, as well as an important role in protecting EU’s farming model in the time of high trade pressures.

 

We would also like to direct all the MEPs interested in the EU farming sector’s priorities for the next political period to our dedicated website www.wefarm4.eu