EPP Group listens to farmers

Stronger financing, help for generational renewal and investments for innovations are amongst the policy proposals put forward by the EPP Group to protect European farming and food production, as outlined in the position paper 'The EPP vision for Agriculture in Europe' adopted today.

"With this position paper, the EPP Group clearly shows its full support for farmers and vibrant rural areas as an essential part of our European way of life," says Manfred Weber MEP, Chairman of the EPP Group. “We listen to farmers, and we treat them with respect while working towards a more innovative, more competitive and more sustainable agriculture in Europe," adds Weber.

"The EPP Group protects Europe's food security by standing for a competitive European agricultural model based on families and professional farmers. We will consistently defend a strong, well-funded Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and insist on a bigger CAP budget with more fairness and less complexity and bureaucracy. Only in this way, can our farmers face the many challenges that lie ahead,” says Siegfried Mureșan MEP, Vice-Chair of the EPP Group in charge of budget and structural policies.

"We insist that efforts are stepped up to combat the alarming lack of generational renewal in agriculture, especially by making rural areas more attractive to the younger generation. We call for a renewed focus on agricultural research and innovation, and we must lower the environmental impact, without reducing our agricultural production," stresses Herbert Dorfmann MEP, the EPP Group’s spokesman in the Agriculture Committee.

The EPP Group position paper 'A European Farmers´ Deal - The EPP Vision for Agriculture in Europe' is available via this link.