Meeting Chair, Luxembourg’s Minister of Agriculture, Viticulture and Rural Development, Romain Schneider, said:
“We want to see a good deal for farmers and the environment reached as soon as possible. We need to ensure that the outcome truly leads to a better CAP, one that supports farmers and agricultural workers and delivers a greener future.
“The agricultural sector has a vital role to play in ensuring the ambitions set out in the European Green Deal take root. We must not forget that the CAP is an integral part of EU climate policy, environmental policy, energy policy and policy for rural areas. It has huge potential to contribute to a better, cleaner, environment for all.
“I want to thank the Portuguese Presidency for their hard work on these complex negotiations. We are making progress towards a deal which is red and green, which puts Europe on track to a fairer and more sustainable future.”
Meeting in December, PES agriculture ministers called for CAP negotiations to unleash the green potential of European agriculture to improve productivity and support farmers in a sustainable way.
The PES strongly supports efforts to make Europe more sustainable through action across the policy spectrum. We welcomed the launch of the European Green Deal, spearheaded by progressive European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, and continue to push for ambitious action for the climate.
The second point on the agenda of today’s agriculture ministerial saw ministers exchange on the situation in the agricultural markets. The meeting commended the resilience of the EU agriculture sector – which has been severely affected by COVID-19 measures over the last year – and restated their hope that vaccination campaigns will allow foodservices to reopen in all EU countries.
List of participants:
Romain Schneider, Chair, Minister for Agriculture, Viticulture and Rural Development, Luxembourg
Jiří Šír, Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Czech Republic
Rasmus Prehn, Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Denmark
Maria do Céu Antunes, Minister of Agriculture, Portugal
Luis Planas Puchades, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Spain
Jennie Nilsson, Minister for Rural Affairs, Sweden
Pedro Marques, MEP, Vice-President of the S&D Group, PES Coordinator for the implementation of the Commission Work Programme, European Parliament
Paolo de Castro, MEP, S&D Coordinator of the Committee on Agriculture, European Parliament
Yonnec Polet, Deputy Secretary General, PES
