Phil Hogan has received the backing of the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee, following a meeting with the Commissioner-elect in Brussels. Hogan was named to the post in September by incoming Commission President Jean Claude Juncker.

image expired

The Parliament as a whole will vote on Hogan's appointment later this month.

Reacting to the vote, green campaigners from the European Environmental Bureau said they fear sustainability and environmental protection will come second to deregulation under Hogan's leadership.

EEB's agriculture spokesperson Faustine Defossez said Hogan stated several times during his hearing that simplification will be his 'first priority', sustainability came as second.

During his meeting with the Agriculture Committee, Hogan promised a mid-term review of the revised Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Defossez said that such a review should assess whether or not CAP delivers public goods in return for the billions of Euros spent.

EEB policy officer Defossez added, "Faced with the depletion of the natural resources which farming depends upon, Hogan must be a custodian of Europe's countryside. He made a half-hearted promise today to restore and protect soil and water. We will be carefully watching to make sure that he does stick to that promise… It was disappointing that Hogan, as a farmer, did not stress the importance of biodiversity."

The Bureau maintains that the big challenges European farmers face are biodiversity loss, soil erosion and lack of water in quantity and quality. Given the threats of climate change, biodiversity loss and resource depletion, EU money should support farmers who do farm in a way that sustains these resources, Defossez said.