November 23 2021
Renew Europe was at the forefront of the final compromise adopted today in the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg in favour of a structural modernization of the common agricultural policy so that agricultural production can combine economic competitiveness with social and environmental objectives of the Green Deal.
Ulrike MÜLLER (Freie Wähler, Germany), Parliamentary rapporteur for the horizontal regulation of the CAP, said : “Today marks a historic day for the new CAP, a day when we turn a page towards more environmentally ambitious, socially aware and performance oriented CAP. The new delivery model that we have set in motion will ensure that CAP will really focus on achieving its targets and will turn away from simply complying with the rules. The Parliament has also included safeguards that will make sure CAP payments are more transparent and that the EU financial interests are better protected. All in all, I believe that this CAP will really be a success”.
Jérémy DECERLE (Renaissance, France), shadow rapporteur for Renew Europe within the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture (AGRI), added : “Throughout the negotiations, the Renew team worked together to bring coherence and ambitions to the CAP. Our desire, which is fully reflected in the final deal, to produce a CAP balanced between economic tools and environmental and climatic incentives. Today, the men and women who feed us deserve security and stability by adopting, without hesitation, this future CAP “.
Martin HLAVÁČEK (ANO, Czech Republic), shadow rapporteur for Renew Europe within the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture (AGRI), underlined: “This agreement is a big leap forward towards a genuine transformation of CAP into a profitable green economy. This is the right way for scaling and mainstreaming sustainability and providing affordability of this transformation to all our citizens. Those voting against the reform today do not opt for the environment, they vote for uncertainty, food inequality and the benefits of the Green Deal just for a privileged few. Renew Europe stands for benefits for all”.
Jan HUITEMA (VVD, the Netherlands), shadow rapporteur for Renew Europe within the Parliamentary Committee on Environment (ENVI), concluded : ‘This CAP deal represents an historic shift for our agriculture, by moving to a new delivery model with a focus on performance instead of only on taken measures. I am pleased to see that my efforts to allocate more funding to performance-based payments is reflected in this deal. From now on, Member States will have to devote at least 25% of their direct payments to eco-schemes, and 35% of their rural development allocations for environmental and climate objectives, which is largely achieved by Renew Europe’s effort.’