Ref. Ares(2022)6582733 - 23/09/2022
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Subject:
MINUTES - 28 April- Copa and Cogeca joint Praesidia meeting (RB)
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Sent: Friday, April 29, 2022 11:16 AM
To: AGRI CABINET MEMBERS MEETINGS Personal data
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Seubject: RE: PARTICIPANT DESIGNATION
e - 28 April- Copa and Cogeca joint Praesidia meeting (RB)
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s ar Personal
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As requested in your e-mail below, please find more detailed minutes of the meeting in the following.
a
a
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In
d short the main points of the farmers r
d epresentatives were:
a Boosting production to ensure globaal food security is essential.
t The F2F strategy needs to be revisetd and farmers should be subjected to fewer conditions.
a The high input costs are a problem if it
a
is unclear at what prices the crops can be sold in a few months’ time.
Uncertainty about fertiliser prices makes it difficult to plan cropping for 2023.
National issues (wolves and drought in Spain, refugees in Poland).
General discontent with the Commission and DG AGRI (in their insistence on the Green Deal and limited
financial support).
And the main points in the reply of our Commissioner were:
We are prepared to support Ukraine.
We know production costs are high, esp. because of fertiliser, and we have a support mechanism.
We are also monitoring the situation regarding food security.
We made exceptions to address short-term challenges, but we cannot ignore long-term considerations.
Some parts of the F2F strategy have no impact on food security or even increase efficiency.
The Green Deal will be implemented via national strategic plans and in a fair way.
The financial framework for the CAP is the result of a a decision by the 27 MSs and can only be changed by
them.
Detailed minutes:
Chair: The EU realised how important food security is and how important it is to protect supply chains. Using fallow
land goes in the right direction. Farmers are suffering because of price hikes of all inputs. Farmers also worry about
the next CAP; national plans and measures on GAEC (esp. for crop rotation) are of utmost concern. The Commission
has to show flexibility and adapt so that farmers can persevere; the F2F strategy should be adapted as it dates from
before COVID and the war.
Commissioner: I would like to outline the Commission’s position on crisis management, state aid and the CAP
process… [Read-out of the briefing, with some omissions to shorten the speech.]
Representative from ES: Farmers need certainty regarding the strategic plans; we need decisions to be able to start
work now (e.g. we need to know if we have crop diversification or rotation) and we need extraordinary measures. In
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Spain there is also a problem with large carnivores (i.e. wolves). We need to be able to hunt carnivores, but without
a reform of the directive, we cannot do so; then we need to take matters in our own hands.
Representative from IE: The decision on fallow lands is good and hopefully helps producing more grain. Regarding
the package of 500 million, 350 million of that is farmers’ money that will not be re-distributed later. We are also
concerned about fertiliser for 2023 where we extraordinary price increases; bio-gas will not replace the needed gas.
Currently the high prices are driving farmers out of production. This raises questions around the timing and speed of
F2F – what is critical at the moment is food security. We also have to have a look again at retailers and their pricing.
Question sent in writing: Per an P be made on the suspension of import duties?
son
er
Representative from AT: F2
al F contain
so ed good approaches, but the situation changed. We have a drop in food
production and increasing pr
dat ices. Th
na e Commission must re-consider its F2F and Biodiversity strategies. We have a
responsibility regarding thae rest of
l the world to produce more food in Europe.
da
ta
Representative from PL: Regarding fertilisers, this is a very important issue and we hope on more support. PL took in
a great number of refugees, but the EU does not seem to want to support us. We have 2 m refugees, we want to
continue our solidarity, but it is scandalous what is happening. We opened our borders and agreed with SANTE to
send products from Ukraine via PL to third countries. And the only thing is import duties are addressed.
Representative from FI: For increased resilience we must ensure the food supply chain operates optimally. Farmers
will need another package next year when fertiliser prices are still high. How will the Commission ensure food
production in future? We go into the food crisis and at same time international fertiliser companies record all-time
profits. What are you going to do to stop this robbery? Dirty structures must be destroyed.
Representative from IT: Farmers are deeply concerned. We are called to produce more cereals and contribute to
reduce the cost of feed for our livestock production. But our inputs are very expensive (seeds, gas, diesel). We are
not sure whether we will be able to recover the money we are spending. EU farmers need more help. It is not
enough to say that we have to produce more. Today cereals are produced at very high costs. We need guarantees
for the prices of wheat in June and of maize in September.
Representative from ES: We condemn Putin’s regime and support solidarity with Ukraine. Certain rules regarding
green payments have to be relaxed. Food has to be secured for EU citizens. In times of war this becomes even more
important, i.e. additional measures are needed. In Spain there is also drought, so we would like to ask the
Commission to release funds from rural development FEDER so that they can help farmers going through the current
situation.
Representative from FR: We are preparing for 2023 and we need to make decisions regarding our cropping plans. In
this context access to energy is important; we cannot risk interruptions to our cropping cycles. It is important to be
able to rely on processing, too. The energy policies are not in line with our needs. Can we count on the Commission
to remedy this?
Commissioner:
It is my understanding that you have a representative of Ukraine with you. I want to express our complete
solidarity. This week I visited the Baltic states where I was also able to speak with the Ukrainian agricultural
minister, how we could help. This Russian aggression has profoundly affected Ukrainian production where losses
will be considerable. Ukrainian farmers continue to work, despite putting their lives on the line. There are many
problems and yet Ukraine is still present on international markets. Ukraine is in possession of feed that they
could export, but port facilities were destroyed and the railway transport situation is challenging. We are
prepared to support them.
Regarding the suspension of import duties, the Commission has decided to grant this for one year, for food.
We know that production costs are increasing. We know that this crisis and the increase in fertiliser prices is
huge, so we have to take measures. We have to put in place a support mechanism for a war context. Two
countries already set up a support system, PL and ES. We are waiting for requests from other countries. This
support is necessary but it is in the hands of the MSs.
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Regarding crisis management measures, the crisis reserve is not sufficient but it will be supplemented by direct
payments.
Regarding the CAP budget, MSs decided on the budget as it currently stands.
Regarding support measures, we are taking a very close look at the F2F strategy and food security measures and
we continuously monitor the impact of the strategies on food security and the agri-food sector. The decision
concerning fallow land is a result of our monitoring as excluding 40 m hectares would have an impact on food
security. In the long-term it would be beneficial to sustainability, but in this exceptional context farmers have to
have the possibility to use these areas.
Other parts of the F2F strategy have no impact on food security (e.g. animal welfare), so they do not need to be
addressed or changed. Or if we do not have e.g. precision farming in the strategic plans, they will have to be
adapted. (There is also the possibility in the second pillar to have investments into technologies.) This would
allow us to use less fertilisers and be more productive. These types of measures are not detrimental to
production; they increase efficiency. We must not abandon the organic sector. This is something that consumers
want, but it is also in the interest of farmers.
The Green Deal will be realised because it is enshrined in the national strategic plans, which will be approved
and validated on the basis of the binding elements of the legislation. Of course we have environmental
measures, but these national plans affect pesticide limits for the use of the products and we need to adjust
differences between MSs; some MSs have higher than average use of pesticides, while in others it is below. So
we should not put the same reduction requirement on each country because this is not fair.
In the Commission Communication on food security, the Commission underlined the significance of food
security; for us this is as important as our military defence and energy security. We have a huge budget, 382 m
EUR for the CAP. We have to discuss how to ensure food security. We can also provide funds to help farmers in
these difficult times. Agriculture is constant crisis management. Of course we have other types of crises, such as
drought. We need more mechanisms and more tools in the CAP, because they are not sufficient any more.
However, the financial framework is a decision by MSs and the quota of 382 m for the CAP can only be changed
by the 27 MSs.
Chair: We know there is a limited budget. But we are living through an exceptional situation and this requires more
flexibility and less rigidness. There are measures that come with no costs, such as not enforcing conditions on
farmers. With F2F there will be a decrease in production. You should not make our work more difficult. We need
everything at our disposal. What we are noting is that in many MSs there is green capping for organic products. We
need more pragmatism. There is too much severity in national plans. The Commission has not understood all of this.
Now that there is a war it is high time that we review everything, because F2F does not match our needs.
Consumers are no longer able to consume as before, so we have to adapt our farming strategies.
Best,
Personal
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From: Personal data
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Sent: Monday, April 25, 2022 4:35 PM
To: Personal data
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Cc: Personal data
@ec.europa.eu>; Personal data (AGRI)
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Subject: PARTICIPANT DESIGNATION- 28 April- Copa and Cogeca joint Praesidia meeting (RB)
Dear Perso ,
nal
Could you
data please designate a participant to attend the Copa and Cogeca joint Praesidia meeting, which will take
place on 28 April 2022 16:30-17:00?
Please make sure that minutes are being taken and sent to us with the Personal in c.c.
data
Thank you in advance.
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Kind regards,
Personal
data
4
