The Dutch PvdA Members of the European Parliament threaten to vote against the new seven-year CAP agricultural policy if it does not include enough Green Deal environmental measures. This was stated by PvdA member Mohammed Chahim in Brussels.
From this voting statement, it appears that the social-democratic S&D group in the European Parliament is dissatisfied that ‘the crown jewels of Frans Timmermans’ are not sufficiently incorporated in the ‘farm to fork’ policy, the food safety chapter of the Green Deal.
Moreover, the pillars of the new CAP policy (halving chemical pesticides; mandatory food labeling; more animal welfare; EU subsidies no longer linked to hectares but to organic products) are being challenged by ‘conservative’ agricultural countries such as Hungary and Poland.
Every seven years, European agricultural subsidies are redistributed. And although this should be the moment to include new socially sustainable and climate-neutral goals in EU policy, the entire Green Deal is scarcely mentioned, to the surprise of the PvdA members.
PvdA MEP Mohammed Chahim said in a press release on the matter: “It is enormously important that agriculture also contributes to achieving climate targets. There must be stricter conditions for direct income support. Farmers who receive support must take into account climate, environment, and public health. That is the agriculture of the future.”
European agricultural policy has historically primarily benefited large-scale agro-industry. The current proposals are hardly any different. The cash-per-cow principle remains: the more or larger you are, the more subsidies you receive. Tens of millions in agricultural subsidies will continue to flow to mega-farms in this way, fears Chahim.
“80% of total agricultural subsidies currently go to 20% of farmers; these are often industrial agricultural businesses. We must not continue to fatten the large agricultural factories at the expense of the small farmer.”
Supporting small-scale sustainable agriculture is, according to Chahim, one of the goals of the new Farm-to-Fork strategy. In addition, the EU wants a better biodiversity strategy. The size of the livestock population is not being scaled back either. According to the Dutch PvdA members, this is being taken into far too little account.