EU: citizens believe that the CAP should prioritize support for farmers and protection of the environment
European citizens believe that agricultural policy must continue to be managed at EU level and its main objectives should be to support farmers and protect the environment. This is mainly due to the public consultation which has received over 322,000 contributions from a wide range of stakeholders, including farmers, individual citizens, NGOs and other partners for three months.
The Commission presented on 7 July the results of the public consultation on the modernization and simplification of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The results of the consultation and analysis based on field work carried out by the Commission will be used to draw up a Communication containing specific legislative proposals to modernize and simplify the CAP
During the opening ceremony of the conference on the conclusions of the aforementioned public consultation, Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan said: “We are living today another important stage in the future of the Common Agricultural Policy: this is an opportunity for Interested parties to further contribute to the ongoing debate. The response to the public consultation demonstrates the existing level of interest in the CAP, a policy that continues to support a dynamic agricultural sector, ensuring the production of safe and high quality food for 508 million European citizens and investing heavily in rural áreas”.
The high level of participation in the consultation demonstrates that agriculture and its role in society has become an increasingly important issue for many European citizens
The vast majority of respondents (90%) also state that there is real added value in the management of agricultural policy at European level, as it ensures a level playing field in the single market and ensures that agriculture responds to the shared challenges such as the protection of the environment (85%) and the fight against climate change (73%). The need to maintain economic, social and territorial cohesion throughout the EU (86%) and the need for a common best practice exchange framework (91%) were also frequently mentioned.
Clear objectives
The results of the consultation are also clear on what the Common Agricultural Policy should achieve.
Most respondents (88%) recognize that farm incomes are below the EU average and that farmers receive only a small amount of the final consumer price of food (97%)
Direct support to farmers’ incomes is considered the best way to achieve this (66% of respondents).
The other main objective of the CAP should be to ensure that farmers are encouraged to play their role in combating climate change and protecting the environment, protecting biodiversity, reducing soil degradation and further use sustainable use of pesticides and fertilizers.
It also emerges from the conclusions that both citizens and farmers want the future CAP to be simpler and less bureaucratic in order to respond more effectively to these challenges
Background
The online public consultation on the modernization and simplification of the CAP was launched on 2nd February 2017 and lasted until 2nd May 2017. It has been open to all interested citizens and organizations and has been organized by means of a questionnaire in the 23 official languages of the EU.
The purpose of the consultation was to gather views of farmers, organizations and other stakeholders on three main themes: agriculture, rural areas and the CAP at present; Objectives and governance of the CAP; And agriculture, rural areas and the CAP of the future. It included 28 closed questions (multiple choice), five open questions and the possibility to load position papers.
Source: European Commission
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
➡️Germany accounts for almost half of the contributions made to the public consultation on the CAP
