“According to the existing conditions, farmers are daily meeting a sizeable totality of compulsory requirements. Introduction of new requirements will entail higher costs. As the funding earmarked by the European Commission still considerably differs between Member States, the totality of environmental and climate requirements of the EU Common Agricultural Policy must be commensurate to the funding allocated to each Member State, to avoid undermining competitiveness of farmers on the Single market,” emphasizes Kaspars Gerhards, the Minister for Agriculture, after discussions in the EU Council of Ministers for Agriculture and Fishery in Brussels have finished.
It has already been communicated that there were ongoing discussions in EU Council of Ministers for Agriculture and Fishery in Brussels as to what the conditions must look like, which will regulate the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) from 2021 to 2027. There were sharing of opinions on one of the most essential blocs of CAP conditions, associated with laying down of higher environmental and climate requirements for farmers.
Kaspars Gerhards, the Minister for Agriculture, also pointed out that the EU Trade Agreement with MERCOSUR States – Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay – must include such conditions that after their conclusion farmers and food producers on both sides are in equal competition conditions and ensuring that the produce, imported into EU from MERCASUR States, comply with those high standards met by producers in EU Member States.