Following growing protests in several EU countries, MEPs discuss how to respond to the demands of farmers and rural communities and how to engage in a dialogue to preserve a sustainable agriculture. This news item shows the selection of the debate highlights of the quotes from the Belgian EU Council's presidency, European Commission and main group leaders. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

WEBER, Manfred (EPP, DE)

LAMBERTS, Philippe (Greens/EFA, BE)

ŠEFČOVIČ, Maroš (SK, EC)

GARCÍA PÉREZ, Iratxe (S&D, ES)

CAP reform (T)

crisis in the agriculture sector (T)

CANFIN, Pascal (Renew, FR)

LAHBIB, Hadja (BE)

Empowering farmers and rural communities: extracts from the debate

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/74651544/1707297774845_I252427Chapters%5BSD-EN%5D.srt

Exterior shot of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

SOUNDBITE (English, French), Hadja LAHBIB, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, The rules adopted in 2021 to reform the CAP need to be reassessed to fly in the light of current realities. The proposals were initially presented before Covid and before the onset of the war in Ukraine. They, therefore, require to be updated so that we can strike an appropriate equilibrium in our agricultural policy. That is to say, we need to guarantee food security and equally fair remuneration for farmers. We will need to take, of course, a short term approach, but equally a medium term and a strategic vision in order to ensure that we have a sustainable agriculture in the European Union, in every sense of the term. That is to say, for the planet, but also for those who are involved in the sector.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maro&scaron; &Scaron;EFČOVIČ, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Views on how to move forward are understandably varied, and we have seen increasing polarisation on the number of topics. It is therefore imperative that we will bring all the stakeholders together to see how we can look for joint solutions and define common vision and reach a new consensus.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maro&scaron; &Scaron;EFČOVIČ, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Farmers know what they are doing and I have seen this for myself firsthand. So our job now is to support farmers in the transition, helping them de-risk this necessary transformation and scaling up all the good practices in agriculture. It is crucial to work with the entire food chain so that consumers can better appreciate the value of sustainability. Our farmers deserve to make a decent living, and that will only happen if we work together to achieve our climate and biodiversity goals.

SOUNDBITE (German), Manfred Weber (EPP, DE), Others criticising Brussels for producing too much bureaucracy. That's what the French President is saying. But that's what we said a year ago. Now farmers know that they can depend on us. We will be the advocate. We have fought hard. Yes, we're in favour of biodiversity protection. Yes, we're in favour of protecting the environment, but together with farmers, not against them.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Iratxe GARC&Iacute;A P&Eacute;REZ (S&amp;D, ES), We absolutely can't accept the problems in agriculture, calling into question the goals of having agriculture that is compatible with the fight against climate change. Neither is it acceptable for the European Union to sacrifice trade agreements with third countries. What's necessary is to guarantee that production that comes from third countries is subject to the same production rules that we apply to our farmers in the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (French), Pascal CANFIN (Renew, FR), And we need to boil it down to three issues. One: income. Two: the green transition. Three: the fight against unfair competition and the need to protect our farming sector. Can we do that? Can we compromise on the three issues I've just listed? If you want to blame the green transition and trade deals, it's pointless. And we can't have a Green Deal without involving farmers, because the biggest threat to farmers and incomes is climate change.

SOUNDBITE (French), Philippe LAMBERTS (Greens/EFA, BE), We need the Green Deal if we are to survive. Farmers are at the front line of climate change and they know this better than you. But we won't make any progress without them, let alone working against them. We won't make any progress if this economic system causes them to commit suicide. These farmers end up killing themselves.