Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on "Young people in European farming — a blueprint"
Date: 2001-06-13
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: Central and Eastern European countries, agricultural policy, aid to agriculture, young farmer

14.12.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 357/29

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘Young people in European farming — a blueprint’

(2001/C 357/08)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the decision taken by its Bureau on 10 November 2000, under the fifth paragraph of
Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, to draw up an opinion on the subject
and to direct Commission 2 for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries to undertake the
preparatory work;

having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 (1) on support for rural development from the
European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), which defined the Community framework
for sustainable rural development from January 2000;

having regard to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1750/1999 (2) laying down detailed rules for the
application of the abovementioned regulation;

having regard to the Commission report on Young farmers and the problem of succession in European
agriculture (COM(96) 398 final) and the CoR opinion on that report (CdR 457/96 fin) (3);

having regard to the draft opinion (CdR 417/2000 rev. 2) adopted by Commission 2 on 20 April 2001
(rapporteur: Mr Gonzi, councillor for Albareto, I, PPE),

adopted the following opinion by a majority vote at its 39th plenary session of 13 and 14 June 2001
(meeting of 13 June).

The Committee of the Regions

sector and young farmers (by sex) entering it, so that
annual comparisons can be made;

1.
Is concerned at the ageing situation of the EU’s farmers.
Such a situation has dangerous implications at a time when
fewer and fewer young people are entering or remaining in the
sector to guarantee the succession.

— instruments for evaluating current European policies —
agricultural and otherwise — and their effects on young
people entering the agriculture sector;

In many areas, this situation is threatening proper development
of the sector, stewardship of the land, and environmental and
landscape protection. In upland and disadvantaged areas in
particular, it is jeopardising effective implementation of the
new rural development policy. Rural areas are faced with the
risk of fullscale decline.

Considers it vital,

in view of the steadily worsening
2.
situation, to have on hand a variety of instruments which,
from different angles, analyse the various elements, pinpoint
reasons and help to provide solutions.

The Commission should therefore prepare:

— a statistical system for monitoring farmers leaving the

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 80.
(2) OJ L 214, 13.8.1999, p. 31.
(3) OJ C 215, 16.7.1997, p. 31.

— a special taskforce, within the Agriculture DG, to devise

appropriate practical solutions.

Considers it a matter of vital urgency that data be
3.
acquired regarding young farmers in the CEEC, and that
an agreement be reached with the CEEC authorities that
Community aid should, as a matter of priority if not essentially,
focus on investment to help young people set up as farmers,
provide training and technical assistance, and facilitate the
restructuring of holdings.

Considers that there is insufficient awareness of the
4.
seriousness of the phenomenon, and of the complexity of the
necessary solutions, both within the Community and the
individual Member States.

Considers, therefore, that the Commission should, at an early
opportunity, convene a conference on young people in rural
society. Just as the Cork conference put the topic of sustainable
rural development on the European agenda and suggested the
relevant implementing policies, so the conference on young

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people in rural society should draw the attention of the EU
public and the various tiers of government to this subject,
kindling interest, suggestions and appropriate policy responses.
The CoR considers that it should play an important role in the
preparation and holding of the conference, not least because
the regional and local authorities have more direct experience
of the situation of young farmers in different regions.

— land prices and rents are too high compared with income

prospects;

— high cost of start-ups, machinery, and farm improve-

ments;

Proposes that

5.
the conference aim to sketch out a
blueprint for young people in European farming which should
include:

— objectives for bringing young people into farming;

— measures to fine-tune or flesh out existing provisions in

agricultural and rural development policy;

— a consistent framework for establishing guidelines for
action by national, regional and local authorities, in their
various spheres of responsibility, to achieve the desired
objectives throughout the EU;

— approaches and measures to encourage similar action in

the CEEC;

— specific measures to be included in EU training, cultural,
education, research, welfare, information/media and tour-
ism policies.

6. Wishes, as of now, to draw the attention of the Com-
mission and the Member States to what are widely accepted as
being some of the main factors discouraging young people
from farming:

— lack of reliable economic prospects, the feeling being that
rural development is not treated as a political priority in
Europe;

— no streamlining of urbanisation procedures for land

earmarked for agricultural use;

— decline in personal, household and business services in
rural areas and hence decline in overall quality of life.
Young people — and young women in particular — are
thus unwilling to establish a family in these areas;

— perception that social conditions are inadequate, com-
pared with the attractions of other sectors of activity and
other living and working environments;

— large amount of red tape and legal and fiscal obstacles for
starting up, and a web of regulations which is difficult to
disentangle without proper help;

— lack of training, given the environment

in which a
modern farm must operate (technically sound, mindful
of production and sales problems, able to expand activi-
ties and income by diversifying judiciously);

— difficulty (or often impossibility) of acquiring production
quotas, because of lack of market or prohibitive costs. The
problem is particularly acute in upland and disadvantaged
areas, where the market is affected by demand from
stronger farming areas.

7.
Stresses the need for complementary, integrated action
at EU, national, regional and local level to address the question
of young people in farming. Where necessary (e.g. in the case
of immediate start-up aid for young farmers), these measures
should be mandatory in all Member States.

8.
Calls on the Commission, as of now, to reach agreement
with the Member States on a policy for young farmers that
provides:

— succession arrangements designed to keep the farm intact;

— a tax system for farmers in general that guarantees fair
treatment and is not more favourable for other economic
sectors. The Commission should set up a survey to
ascertain details of the tax systems for farmers in the
various Member States;

— adequate pre- and post-natal allowances for young

women.

Agrees that multifunctional agriculture is essential for
9.
rural development; considers, therefore, that the EU, Member
States and regions, each in their respective areas of competence,
must urgently ensure conditions that enable farmers and
farmworkers to exercise a range of activities, both in order to
increase overall per capita incomes and, especially in upland
to allow activities in such fields as
and marginal areas,

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forestry, care and management of protected areas and parks,
maintenance of rural and civil infrastructure, management of
cultural assets, services and seasonal tourism.

— The most advantageous conditions must be devised for
streamlining insurance, social security, tax and other
statutory contributions for farmers who engage in sup-
plementary activities.

— A new statute for diversified rural enterprises must be
drawn up, in which each authorised activity fits in with
the main rationale of the undertaking, namely farming.

10.
Thinks that when setting up the blueprint for young
people in European farming, the following aspects must be
considered:

— direct aid for young farmers, with funding for overall
start-up and farm development plans. The European
Social Fund should also provide direct employment and
self-employment aid at least for the first four years of
activity;

— special support measures for young women, to help them
achieve a greater degree of independence and equality in
the workplace, encouraging them to set up and remain in
rural areas;

— start-up aid for eight years, as proposed by the European

Parliament;

— additional loans for investments, particularly in upland

and disadvantaged regions;

— early retirement incentives, offering appropriate econ-
omic assistance if the farm is being transferred to a young
person, so as to provide a fullscale ‘pension package’ in
such cases, and harnessing, as far as possible, the expertise
the retiree has built up through hands-on experience,
and, of course, facilitating his social rehabilitation;

— provision of guarantees for farm credit;

— special loans to encourage farm restructuring schemes;

— education and information for young people interested
in a future in farming from the EU and the candidate
countries, and encouragement for young farmers to take
part in schemes involving practical experience on a farm
in another country;

— improvement of infrastructure in rural areas as regards

services, and especially education and health;

— revitalisation of the rural environment by encouraging

residential clusters.

11.
Deems it vital that any measures adopted to help young
farmers be treated by the candidate countries as an integral
part of the Community acquis.

12.
Proposes that the Commission, Member States and
local and regional authorities reach agreement on programmes
for identifying local development agencies to be entrusted with
the following tasks:

— promotional campaigns to attract young people into
farming (for example: inside the agricultural sector itself
with already established farmers who need to keep a
positive attitude about their profession, and outside it by
conducting an image-boosting campaign targeted at
young people with or without an agricultural back-
ground);

— vocational training and refresher courses for farmers,
technical staff and officials from local

farmworkers,
government;

— providing business people with information on prices,
costs, products, market possibilities, alternative inno-
vative and complementary production, modern tech-
nologies, and ways of accessing Community, national
and regional assistance;

— technical back-up, and help with business management;

— use of information technologies;

— information on legal and tax affairs;

— creation and maintenance of a database with details of
farmers who would like to retire and the people who
would like to set up, facilitating an understanding between
the two parties.

— elimination of the speculative production quota market
and encouragement
for the acquisition and priority
transfer of production quotas. Given the small quantities
involved, spare national quotas should be allocated by
the state to upland and marginal areas;

It should be borne in mind that, very often, there are already
agencies and other public or private bodies that could be given
a specific national or regional remit for this. It may simply be
a matter of giving them some detailed practical instructions.

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Checks should be made on the capacities of these agencies,
who would then be given the role of ‘tutoring’ young farms
over a number of years. The arrangement could take the form
of a contract between the agency, the young farmer and the
public body sponsoring the ‘adoption of a young farmer’ for
at least a three-year period. The adoption package would
include a plan for the farm’s areas of activity and development,
and public co-financing for the running costs.

13.
Considers that, when further developing schemes
involving agri-environmental measures, organic farming, agri-
tourism and rural tourism, support for promotion and market-
ing of local speciality products, and the exploitation, pro-
cessing and marketing of woodland produce, priority attention
should be given to the presence of young farmers or groups of
young farmers.

Considers that, as the demands which society makes of farmers
have changed, with farmers being the focus of debates on
consumer information about where their food comes from,
farmers should be offered courses to help them explain their
practices to the public.

Considers that the European Commission, together with the
national, regional and local authorities and in collaboration
with young farmers, should launch a wide-ranging rural
information campaign encouraging the further development
of rural tourism, open farm days, educational farms and
agricultural teaching paths.

Calls on urban authorities to forge new links with
14.
neighbouring rural areas, with a view to fostering their social,
cultural and economic development and to helping to make
the public more aware of the special values and characteristics
of rural areas; notes that urban authorities also need to
recognise the beneficial social role that rural areas play for city
residents who visit them regularly.

15.
Considers that the European Investment Bank should
also be involved in the implementation of the blueprint
for young people in European farming, given its strategic
importance.

16.
Asks all the authorities involved in the implementation
of the Leader+ initiative to concentrate funding on projects
that involve young farmers, who should be given a central role
in a ‘bottom-up’ approach for rural areas.

Brussels, 13 June 2001.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Jos CHABERT