Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funding should be removed from farmers who do not adhere to labour standards or infringe health and safety regulations, a major EU trade union federation has claimed.

In its submission on the next CAP, the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT) also called for a more robust inspection regime to enforce employment law and workplace directives in the farm sector.

EFFAT maintained that CAP funding should be made “inaccessible to employers” who do not respect “applicable labour standards; engage in union-busting practices, social fraud, or exploitation; refuse to bargain collectively; or infringe health and safety requirements”.

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The federation said the position of agricultural workers needed to be protected and that access to direct payments could be used for this purpose.

Critical

EFFAT was also critical of the current inspection regime for farm workers across the EU. It pointed out that inspections in certain German crop production systems, such as asparagus, will only take place every 350 years.

“This is why EFFAT demands the introduction of a minimum target for inspections covering at least 8% of employers [each year],” it stated.

In addition, EFFAT called for the level of direct payments to farmers to be based not only on the number of eligible hectares they farm, but also on the level and quality of employment they provide.

Data on the wages and social security contributions paid by farmers, as well as the stability of employment, should be made accessible when claiming CAP payments, EFFAT claimed.

A balance between these criteria and the other parameters, such as eligible hectares, would “effectively promote good employment and growth in rural areas”, the EFFAT submission contended.

Revision

“Moreover, EFFAT believes that the system of direct payment must be revised to allocate more resources to innovative agricultural companies that invest and create employment and to small farmers that contribute to the maintenance and protection of the territory in rural and mountain areas,” the Brussels-based federation stated.

Pointing out that 80% of CAP funds go to 20% of beneficiaries, EFFAT called for a fairer distribution of the budget, with more targeted supports for small farmers.

The federation also proposed that application procedures for CAP funding be “streamlined and simplified”.

Compulsory education and training programmes for agricultural workers, funded by CAP, was also demanded by EFFAT.

“The necessity to have a dedicated budget for training and education for agricultural workers at member state level follows from the high incidence rates of workplace accidents and because of ongoing major structural transitions (eg green and digital transition) requiring upskilling of the agricultural workforce,” the EFFAT submission stated.