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The move came as Ministers debated the greening aspects of the Commission proposals on the future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Speaking with Danish Farm Minister Ms Gjerskov, Copa President Gerd Sonnleitner stressed   “Our position on greening is quite clear.  We must ensure that measures to further green the CAP do not have a negative impact on farmers’ production capacity or costs.  And we must ensure that the greening measures are simple, practical, and fair”. This was also highlighted by many Ministers at their meeting today. He insisted: “The Commissions’ proposals will reduce production, increase farmers’ costs and increase bureaucracy – this is not what we as farmers want. We are calling for measures which ensure green growth.  Farmers and their cooperatives must be given a choice of measures to apply from an EU list of measures to reflect the versatile and diverse nature of European agriculture. Imposing the same 3 measures on all farmers is neither practical, nor the best way to achieve environmental benefits. The measures must be easy to control and simple to administer”.This was also advocated by many Farm Ministers today.

Cogeca President Paolo Bruni went on to outline other elements of Copa-Cogecas’ green growth proposals. “We want the new CAP to encourage green growth because this is the best way to ensure sustainable production and food security – not to mention a more competitive agri-food sector.  Such measures will sometimes require investment and will generally be multiannual. We believe that farmers who are already carrying out measures which go beyond EU mandatory environmental requirements – for example through certification schemes – should be automatically eligible for the greening payment. Farmers who do not apply the greening measure should not receive the greening premium but they must not be penalised excessively by a cut in their basic direct payment, which was proposed by the Commission. This was also supported by most Ministers at their meeting today. We are also proposing the introduction of a new specific measure to encourage green growth on farms in the CAP second pillar”.

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