PAN MEP disappointed with approval of CAP Transition Regulation

Lisbon, 18 May 2020 - The passage of the report of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) on the Transition Regulation of the Common Agricultural Policy (PAC) was voted and approved in the European Parliament directly to trilogues, i.e., negotiations with European Commission and the Council of the European Union). The alternative would have been for the report to be voted in plenary by all MEPs.

PAN MEP Francisco Guerreiro, in line with the Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA), voted against passing the report directly to trilogues, with this plenary vote being specifically requested by this European political family. 

“Since we are talking about a text that will regulate one of the most polluting sectors, the agri-food sector, for at least one year, and since we should already start to think about the transition to a more sustainable CAP, as a matter of principle, I consider it essential that the whole of Parliament has the opportunity to express its opinion. This regulation will be without the contribution of political families in the EP and will certainly not comply with strict criteria of ecological transition in the agricultural sector”, said Francisco Guerreiro.

The Transition Regulation, which can be extended to two years if Parliament does not reach consensus for the new CAP by 30 October, aims to cover the period between the current CAP (2014-2020) and the one that is still being negotiated for the next few years, which was supposed to cover 2021-2027, but which will probably not take effect until January 2023. The measure passed with 549 votes in favour, 124 against and 15 abstentions.

Disappointed with the result of the vote, the MEP adds that the request by the Greens/EFA to take the vote on the change of the AGRI Committee's position to plenary was a strategic step: “Unfortunately, the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development is an obtusely conservative group. On the other hand, when a matter is brought to the plenary to be voted on by all MEPs, the result tends to be more progressive and balanced. The Greens saw this as the last opportunity to present in trilogues a version of the Regulation that is moving towards reversing the environmental degradation that successive EU agricultural policies have been perpetuating”, added Francisco Guerreiro. 

PAN’s European family in the EP managed, during the negotiations for the Transition Regulation that preceded the vote, to correct several weaknesses in terms of the environmental requirements made to farmers (and which had been proposed by the Commission). However, several measures to initiate the transition to a more sustainable agricultural system in the EU, proposed by the Greens, were not accepted by the AGRI Commission. 

The approved Transition Regulation does not propose changes in terms of agricultural practices, nor any major structural changes to the way the funds are distributed, continuing to privilege large producers and the over-intensive production of agricultural goods.  

Similarly, it also does not correct the problem of inequalities in direct payments to farmers between Member States: the European average is € 266 per subsidized hectare, while in Portugal it is € 203. 

The CAP expires on 31 December 2020. After that date, the Transition Regulation will come into force, so as not to leave farmers without support for their agricultural activities.

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