The European Commission has made proposals which it intends to support as part of the CAP Health Check, and in doing so has turned a blind eye to the key facts of grain production.

The Commission has overlooked the very nature of work in the sector which cannot be self-regulating and which will always be affected by significant swings on the markets.  The Commission has overlooked the fact that international movements can also have a substantial impact on the incomes of the Europeans in the grain business, as can the subsidy systems which the United States has continued to maintain, thus putting their farming sector at an advantage on grain markets and oil and protein seed markets.
 
Given these facts, it is unacceptable for the Commission to be making recommendations calling for market regulation mechanisms to be eased and for the outright removal of direct support, in different forms, to field crop farmers.
 
By adopting this stance, and by advocating that there should be no links whatsoever between direct support and production, the Commission has displayed a disturbing ambition to withdraw from involvement in the development of EU grain and oil and protein seed production.  Yet, as this sector has been recognised as an increasingly indispensable supplier of basic raw materials and produce, and that includes all matters related to plans for security of supply, activities and international relations, the European Union must ensure that it has a minimum level of stability in difficult contexts.

Contact : Pascal HURBAULT, 01 44 31 16 25 et 06 72 42 06 36