Statement: The European Parliament's approval of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy is a threat to the Green Deal
Statement of the Greens in the European Committee of the Regions
During the plenary session last week, the European Parliament voted on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the period of 2021-2027. This reform of the CAP was the chance that many billions aimed at agricultural policy would only be used according to the principle of “public money for public good”. The specifications of the Green Deal were a good basis for a European agricultural policy oriented towards the climate, the environment, animal welfare and the future-proof development of farms. Unfortunately, the approved proposal benefits commercial lobby interests of big agri-businesses rather than supporting small farmers and investing in local farming to make shorter and fairer supply chains. The Greens in the European Committee of the Regions, alongside the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament, believe that the CAP reform as voted last week is fundamentally incompatible with the European Green Deal, the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies.
Guillaume Cros, Greens member and CoR rapporteur on the Reform of the CAP (2018) explains that ‘the European Committee of the Regions calls for the key role played by Europe’s regions in managing and implementing the CAP to be maintained and strengthened, especially for the second pillar, so as to bring policy options into line with specific territorial and sectoral characteristics’. At a local and regional level, the regulation proposed by the Commission makes no provision for delegating the establishment of strategic plans, which also hinders the possibility to develop specific programmes adapted to the regional situations. Furthermore, the European Committee of the Regions also regrets the lack of ambition for this proposal to align with the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy. For Guillaume Cros, the CAP reform which will be negotiated now between the European Parliament and the Council, in contradiction to the Farm to fork and Biodiversity strategies proposed by the Commission, does not allow for the agroecological transition Europe needs.
The Greens in the Committee of the Regions will join the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament in its push for a fair and sustainable CAP that is in line with the EU climate goals, aims to preserve biodiversity and supports a new generation of agroecological farmers. ‘Following the decisions of the European Council of Ministers last week, the decisions of the grand coalition of conservatives, socialists and liberals in Parliament will even reverse the successes of the current CAP and will ensure that the Green Deal and its effective implementation is blocked in the regions, cities and municipalities’, condemns Bernd Voss, co-president of the Greens.