Copa and Cogeca has written to the European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen to express its disappointment with failure to reach a decision on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) this week.

The farmer representative group said the failure was down to the Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski, who it said had a poor understanding “regarding the reality of farming in Europe”.

Copa wrote to President Von der Leyen that the Commission should “be an honest broker to facilitate a political agreement between the co-legislators. European negotiators must urgently get their act together and assume their responsibility to reach a compromise that safeguards both the economic and environmental performance of the farming sector.”

We are committed to the CAP and its good performance.

The organisation pointed out the important role of agriculture in food production, particularly during the time of the pandemic.

It encouraged the council and members of the European Parliament and Commission to ensure that a speedy decision was made on CAP negotiations.

“The current CAP has major environmental requirements for farmers and their cooperatives, ” Copa stated.

“The new enhanced conditionality, the proposed eco schemes and the environmental and climate measures in Pillar II will lead to higher and increased efforts by the EU farmers, far exceeding those of any other farmers in the world.

“Farmers are the ones in the field and are the first to feel the effects of climate change or biodiversity loss.

“Over the years, farmers have been committed to becoming more sustainable and doing more for the environment and climate change.

“We are committed to the CAP and its good performance. Contrary to the claims of some NGOs that have never set foot on a farm, this is not greenwashing but a major challenge to small and large farms alike. ”