Due to the Russian war against Ukraine, Ukrainian grain production is expected to be significantly lower this season and the next. This leads to risks of food shortages and high food prices in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
Therefore, the ‘greening’ of European agricultural policy must be halted, believe SGP MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen and SGP House of Representatives member Roelof Bisschop.
Because of sanctions against Russia and Belarus, the import of raw materials for artificial fertilizer is also cut off. “This threatens to reduce agricultural production. This is the moment to allow space for fertilizer alternatives (mineral concentrate from animal manure). Preferably on a structural basis, say the SGP members in a ten-point plan.
In that plan, they propose that the mandatory set-aside of agricultural land and buffer strips (from the new CAP policy) must be postponed, and that the introduction of organic farming should be suspended and reconsidered. The threatened ban on the use of chemical pesticides should also be postponed, according to the SGP members. In addition, they believe that European emergency funds should be made available to farmers and agricultural workers.
The SGP members think “our farmers can compensate for some of the food shortages, but then they must quickly be given that opportunity by the government,” says Roelof Bisschop. The two politicians are referring to both the European and Dutch governments. “Exceptional circumstances call for exceptional measures,” says MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen. “We must always guarantee sufficient affordable food for our population. This is not the time to further squeeze agriculture, but the opposite.”
With their proposals, the SGP factions in Strasbourg and The Hague try to reverse (or postpone) decisions made over the past two years about reforming European agricultural policy. Due in part to stricter climate policy, European agriculture must ‘green’ significantly in the coming years, still to the great dissatisfaction of conservative and right-wing groups in the European Parliament.