The European Parliament must hand chief responsibility for farming issues and legislation back to the agricultural committee, instead of allocating them to committees whose members have poor knowledge of farming on the ground, according to MEP Colm Markey.

Markey highlighted to members of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) that the once powerful agricultural committee, sat on predominantly by MEPs from rural areas and farming backgrounds, is now only half the size of the Parliament’s environment committee.

The handing of proposed legislation to the 88 MEP-strong and urban-dominated environment committee has led to impractical legislation for farmers, with these unworkable rules being among the issues raised by farmers the MEP had spoken to “on the barricades” in Brussels on Wednesday night.

Legislation

Legislation being developed on issues ranging from the EU nature restoration law to pesticide reduction should be “dealt with at a practical level with practical solutions” through the agricultural committee, he said.

“The reality is there is a deep frustration with farmers across Europe and fundamental to that, in my opinion, is that every substantive piece of legislation that deals with farmers doesn’t come before the farmers’ committee,” Markey stated.

“So, if you want to talk about farmers feeling disenfranchised, if the people that are ultimately there to represent farmers don’t get the ultimate say on the agricultural position of these files, no wonder they feel their voice isn’t heard.

“Too often, people that don’t understand the practical implications are making the calls on these things and that’s what we need addressed. There is a responsibility for those issues, as there was in previous times, with the agricultural committee.”

Mercosur

Markey commented that another issue raised frequently by farmers protesting on the continent include a feeling of being treated unfairly with the possibility of an EU-Mercosur deal allowing products in which had been farmed to much lower standards than those produced in the EU.

“One of the big things about the protests is the fact that they have identified that it would allow for products produced to lower standards in South America to come into Europe and undercut producers and the high standards that producers are given,” he continued.

“The very people who give you the high standards are the very people who are undermining them by bringing product from South America.”

Methane

Another major climate concern raised by farmers at the ICSA conference was the accounting systems used to count the global warming potential of methane from cattle and the MEP claims to “totally understand the concerns of those farmers”.

“One of the first things I done when I went to the European Parliament was look for a debate on methane. There was a debate in the agricultural committee that recognised the GWP.

“We brought Miles Allen into the European Parliament probably two years before he ever went before the agricultural committee in Leinster House and championed the principle of biogenic methane.”