In a joint declaration published alongside this Monday's council of EU agriculture ministers in Brussels, German minister Julia Klöckner and her French counterpart Stéphane Travert have called for "the stabilisation of the CAP budget at its current level".
The two ministers said this was necessary to ensure the capacity of Europe's farm policy to "respond to economic, environmental and climatic challenges, and more widely to society's demand from agriculture for safer and more sustainable food".
They also called for greater environmental ambition, more targeted direct payments and more market crisis management measures in the next CAP.
The position of the German ministry is now that they refuse the proposal to cut the CAP budget
Minister Michael Creed welcomed this "significant intervention by the German agriculture ministry".
France, along with Ireland, was already part of an alliance of 20 countries against CAP cuts, started in Madrid in May.
"Having met with the German state secretary for food and agriculture, Dr Hermann Aeikens, this morning, I’m extremely pleased to note that the position of the German ministry is now that they refuse the proposal to cut the CAP budget," Minister Creed said.
The declaration follows the European Commission's initial CAP proposal for 2021-2027, together with a proposed budget applying a 4% cut to agricultural spending under the combined effects of Brexit and competing priorities.
"Honest broker"
It comes on the day of the first EU Council under Austrian presidency. Austria is among the minority of staunch opponents to any increase in national contributions to the European budget and holds the rotating presidency of the Council for the next six months.
Standing in for Austrian Minister for Agriculture Elisabeth Köstinger, who has just had a baby, her cabinet colleague Juliane Bogner-Strauss said Austria would act as an "honest broker" among "different interests and positions between member states" in crucial upcoming budget and CAP negotiations.
Read more
Listen: budget and simplification key concerns for future CAP
Political pressure on maximum CAP payments
Average farm income may be slashed by €3,000
In a joint declaration published alongside this Monday's council of EU agriculture ministers in Brussels, German minister Julia Klöckner and her French counterpart Stéphane Travert have called for "the stabilisation of the CAP budget at its current level".
The two ministers said this was necessary to ensure the capacity of Europe's farm policy to "respond to economic, environmental and climatic challenges, and more widely to society's demand from agriculture for safer and more sustainable food".
They also called for greater environmental ambition, more targeted direct payments and more market crisis management measures in the next CAP.
The position of the German ministry is now that they refuse the proposal to cut the CAP budget
Minister Michael Creed welcomed this "significant intervention by the German agriculture ministry".
France, along with Ireland, was already part of an alliance of 20 countries against CAP cuts, started in Madrid in May.
"Having met with the German state secretary for food and agriculture, Dr Hermann Aeikens, this morning, I’m extremely pleased to note that the position of the German ministry is now that they refuse the proposal to cut the CAP budget," Minister Creed said.
The declaration follows the European Commission's initial CAP proposal for 2021-2027, together with a proposed budget applying a 4% cut to agricultural spending under the combined effects of Brexit and competing priorities.
"Honest broker"
It comes on the day of the first EU Council under Austrian presidency. Austria is among the minority of staunch opponents to any increase in national contributions to the European budget and holds the rotating presidency of the Council for the next six months.
Standing in for Austrian Minister for Agriculture Elisabeth Köstinger, who has just had a baby, her cabinet colleague Juliane Bogner-Strauss said Austria would act as an "honest broker" among "different interests and positions between member states" in crucial upcoming budget and CAP negotiations.
Read more
Listen: budget and simplification key concerns for future CAP
Political pressure on maximum CAP payments
Average farm income may be slashed by €3,000
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