German Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir made his first foreign official visit on Monday, to France. In Paris, he met with his French counterpart Julien Denormandie.
Özdemir discussed with his counterpart, among other topics, support measures for Ukraine and the consequences of the Russian war on global agricultural markets, as well as European agriculture.
“For me and my colleague Denormandie, ensuring the supply to the Ukrainian population is our primary concern,” Özdemir said with concern after the meeting. He warned against using this war in Ukraine as an argument against the climate crisis. At the same time, the Russian aggression war has an impact on European and international supply security, according to Özdemir.
Although this requires pragmatic action, it cannot mean simply reverting to old concepts, he said. “I am all the more pleased that we agree the objectives of the Green Deal and the Farm-to-Fork strategy will not be questioned,” Özdemir said, referring to Denormandie.
According to the European news portal Euractiv, French President Emmanuel Macron called last week for a reshaping of agricultural policy in light of the war in Ukraine. “Europe cannot afford to produce less,” Macron said, urging a revision of the “Farm to Fork” targets.
“The clear lesson from the current situation for us and the entire EU must be to reduce dependencies,” Özdemir demanded. This especially includes increased cultivation of legumes. On the one hand as animal feed, and on the other hand to replace animal proteins by producing more plant-based proteins for human consumption.
Within this framework, the two ministers emphasized that a transition to closed cycles and sustainable production is necessary. Above all, further development of a European strategy for protein crops is meaningful, both said.