Debate: Empowering farmers and rural communities - a dialogue towards sustainable and fairly rewarded EU agriculture
Date: WEDNESDAY, 7 FEBRUARY 2024
Speaker: Maroš Šefčovič
Language: EN

We can be rightly proud of the crucial role played by Europe’s agri-food sector, guaranteeing food security, safety and quality not only for 450 million Europeans but for many others around the world, quite literally putting safe, high-quality food on our tables, while at the same time making a massive contribution to the European and global economy and striving to contribute to the twin green and digital transitions. But while the sector has shown remarkable resilience in the face of challenges such as pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, we must ensure that our food system is also fit for the future. With the Green Deal, we have already put in place an ambitious roadmap to lead us to that future. And yet the reality of climate change, biodiversity loss, growing resource scarcity, price shocks and an increasingly competitive global market is having a huge impact on the farming sector and rural communities. We have seen from the farmers protesting on the streets of Europe that many of them feel trapped, that their needs are not being met. So we must act to secure the future of the sector and those who work within it, and those who benefit from it, namely all of us. We have to ensure that the agri-food sector remains competitive, but with decent incomes for all farmers and SMEs along the entire chain, not least to attract the next generation of young farmers, all whilst bringing the sector within the planetary boundaries. And this means a future where farming and nature go hand in hand in balance. Views on how to move forward are understandably varied, and we have seen increasing polarisation on the number of topics. It is therefore imperative that we will bring all the stakeholders together to see how we can look for joint solutions and define a common vision and reach a new consensus. That is why we launched the strategic dialogue on the future of agriculture in the European Union. And I had the pleasure to discuss the dialogue with the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development of this House, as well as with the ministers in the Agriculture and Fisheries Council ahead of its launch on 25 January. The dialogue involves participants from EU-level associations and organisations, including umbrella organisations representing a number of European groups. There are many reasons which have driven farmers onto the streets in the past weeks, and it’s important not to oversimplify the situation – because the problems of agri food sectors are complex. There are those whom the system serves well and there are those who are being left behind. There are environmental champions, and there are those who need our help to become more sustainable. There are those who benefit from open trade, and there are those who are being squeezed by it. So that is why the strategic dialogue must cover all the core questions and involve all stakeholders, and I believe that we should focus on ensuring a fair standard of living for farmers and rural communities, supporting agriculture within the boundaries of our planet and its ecosystem. We should discuss how to exploit the huge opportunities offered by knowledge and technological innovation, and how to promote a thriving future for the EU’s food system in the competitive world. Let me also highlight that our farmers continue being supported by EU budgets through the common agricultural policy. But we know that this money alone is not enough to address the challenges we are discussing today, nor to deal with climate change. Let us look at the devastating droughts in Spain, the apocalyptic floods in Greece, Slovenia, Italy and elsewhere, the forest fires raging out of control. So inaction would merely lead to even greater costs in the coming decades. Such disasters can only be prevented if we have healthy natural resources and only healthy soils, clean water and abundant pollinators can protect high yields and farmers’ incomes in the face of climate and biodiversity crises. Farmers know what they are doing and I have seen this for myself first-hand. So our job now is to support farmers in the transition, helping them de-risk this necessary transformation and scaling up all the good practices in agriculture. It is crucial to work with the entire food chain, so that consumers can better appreciate the value of sustainability. Our farmers deserve to make a decent living, and that will only happen if we work together to achieve our climate and biodiversity goals. I know that the future of agriculture is a complex topic for conversation, but I firmly believe that this strategic dialogue will ultimately help us speak with one voice of the common future we will pursue for farmers, the environment, and our union as a whole. So let’s work together. Let’s discuss it thoroughly also this morning. I will stop here and, Mr President, I very much look forward to our debate.