The Alliance for Agriculture and Cooperation (AAC) calls on Romanian authorities to reject the current form of the European Commission's proposal for the 2028-2034 EU budget and to negotiate "firmly" in favor of farmers and cooperatives in Romania and the European Union.
"We request that President Nicusor Dan, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, Minister of Finance Alexandru Nazare, Minister of Foreign Affairs Oana Toiu, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Florin Barbu and all MEPs in our country reject the proposal submitted by the European Commission and negotiate vigorously for farmers and cooperatives in Romania and the EU, in order to obtain an update of the proposal that includes a budget of at least 0.4%, in order to have a Common Agricultural Policy with the two pillars (subsidies and investments), the single market, updating the reference area and redressing injustice, to reach the average European subsidy (completion of external convergence) for farmers in our country as we should have had since 2014, at least from 2028." "We just want a fair Common Agricultural Policy, a decent budget and respect for the rural environment and its professionals," AAC representatives said in a statement on Friday.
The AAC welcomes the increase in the total EU budget to 2,000 billion euros for the period 2028-2034, compared to 1,200 billion in the previous period, and the introduction of an automatic mechanism for updating the budget according to inflation, with differentiated thresholds, but expresses its "concern, dissatisfaction and deep concern" over the drastic reduction in allocations for subsidies and investments in food production.
If in the period 2021-2027 agriculture benefited from 0.4% of EU GDP, for the period 2028-2034 a level of only 0.15% is proposed, although the sector contributes 1.3% to the Union's economy, Alliance representatives reported.
In this context, the AAC calls for maintaining an agricultural budget of at least 0.4% of EU GDP, in order to guarantee quality food and food security for the 450 million European citizens. "In order to reach 0.4% of the EU Budget allocated to Agriculture (subsidies and investments) we propose to reduce the support granted to Ukraine, the proposed budget for the European administration, the proposed budget for enlargement and the budget for defense," the statement said.
Representatives of the Alliance for Agriculture and Cooperation participated in the symbolic march organized by Copa-Cogeca together with the Belgian farmers' organizations - Boerenbond and FWA, in Brussels on Wednesday, July 16. The event was scheduled on the same day as the presentation of the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034 by the President of the European Commission, Ursula van der Leyen, and at the Com Agri meeting chaired by the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, Christian Hansen.
"European agricultural organizations have mobilized in Brussels for a symbolic march against the historic approach adopted by the European Commission on two key pillars of European agricultural policy: the future budgetary framework and the CAP. While the harvest is in full swing, the Commission has effectively decided to dismantle the "common" nature of the CAP through budget cuts disguised under the pretext of a so-called "single fund", alongside a complete renationalization justified by the alleged virtue of administrative simplification", the AAC shows.
Copa-Cogeca, together with its national member organisations, has been mobilising for several months, warning against a purely accounting approach and the political inconsistency that would result from dissolving the CAP into a "single fund". Given the colossal challenges facing agriculture, Copa-Cogeca has instead advocated for a consolidated budget, adjusted for inflation and for a CAP that ensures predictability and the smooth functioning of the single market.
"Budget cuts, the dissolution of the two pillars, the loss of the community and the Commission's disengagement from its historic agricultural policy can be interpreted in any other way than as a message of abandonment, indifference and lack of strategic priority for agriculture and rural communities? With this budgetary signal - just as a new legislative cycle begins and with the EU-Mercosur agreement in perspective - how can the Commission be expected to still be heard and benefit from the trust of the agricultural community in the coming years? The Commission would do well to take into account the over 7,000 entities that signed our petition in just a few weeks, of which more than 1,100 are from Romania, currently the country with the most signatures in the EU on the petition that can be signed here: https://nosecuritywithoutcap.eu/sign-the-petition#", AAC representatives said in a statement.
In this context, the Vice-President of the European Parliament, SSD, Victor Negrescu, argued that the EU has the responsibility to build a Europe in which every community, rural or urban, has access to "opportunities, healthy food, decent living and working conditions". "It is essential that we leave no one behind. We cannot build the future on the backs of the most vulnerable. Europe needs a fair budget for all", said Victor Negrescu, Vice-President of the European Parliament, quoted in the AAC press release.
He added that Romania's interests will be defended in these negotiations in the European Parliament. "The authorities in Bucharest must get down to business and develop a strategy to promote our objectives. We cannot accept a budget that will lead to a two-speed Europe. (...) The proposal presented today by the European Commission for the 2028-2034 multiannual budget cannot be accepted from the perspective of the common agricultural policy and cohesion policy," Negrescu specified.
Sigfried Muresan, MFF Rapporteur and EPP Vice-President, showed that the European Parliament will reject the merging of agriculture and cohesion with other European funds. "As the European Parliament's chief negotiator, I have made it clear: we will firmly support the new priorities - defence and competitiveness - but not at the expense of cohesion and agriculture. We will not accept a budget in which farmers or regions are put in competition for the same funds. Cohesion and agriculture must be adequately financed, at least at the current level, adjusted for the inflation rate. We cannot accept a proposal that dilutes the European approach and transforms cohesion policy into a centrally managed national plan. Agriculture and cohesion are not negotiable. They remain clear priorities of the European Union - and they must remain so in the budget", Sigfried Muresan said.
The Minister of Agriculture, Florin Barbu, also had a position regarding the EC proposal on Thursday. "First of all, I reject what the European Commission proposed. I supported in the Council of Ministers - Agrifish that the common agricultural policy should remain separate from the cohesion funds. Of course, I had discussions with my counterparts from France and Germany, who joined Romania's approach to continue with the separate agricultural policy, with the two pillars - EAGF and EAFRD. I say that things will not remain like this and I had a discussion including with the associative forms in Copa-Cogeca. I also informed the President of Romania, Nicusor Dan, who knows about this situation. I know that it was discussed in the electoral campaign and everywhere that agriculture must remain separate from the cohesion funds", Florin Barbu stated on Thursday, after a meeting with vegetable growers from the Dambovita commune Long-legged.
Also, Cogeca Vice President Florentin Bercu issued a warning and an urgent call for action. "No budget, no CAP, no farmers, no security is not just a slogan. It is a roadmap to collapse - if we do not act now. Without a separate and increased budget for the CAP, with two pillars, we can no longer talk about the single market. Promises will become empty words. A separate budget for the CAP, increased in line with inflation, is not bureaucracy. It is a statement of our priorities - our common values put into practice. I understand that we are living in difficult times and we are all aware of this. We understand that defence is important, that armaments should take place, but we must all understand equally that we cannot eat bullets and gunpowder. Food security is a vital component of global security, as is economic resilience and sustainability. the environment," Bercu warned.
He added that a European Union weak in terms of food security, unable to protect its farmers and finance its agriculture, "is adrift, vulnerable."
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