(Brussels, 22 March 2021) The Agriculture Ministers of the European Union are meeting today and tomorrow as the Agriculture Council to further discuss their position on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). On Wednesday, the Council and the European Parliament shall meet in a trilogue to negotiate crisis instruments and competition rules in the Common Market Organisation (CMO) of the CAP. A “super trilogue” is scheduled for Friday, where all three CAP dossiers shall be negotiated by Council and Parliament.

The European Milk Board calls on the EU Institutions to use this week to make agriculture and the dairy sector fairer and more crisis-proof. As EMB President Sieta van Keimpema puts it: “The European Parliament’s position on the CMO reform includes forward-looking amendments that must find their way into legislation.” This specifically means that dairy farmers from the 16 European countries represented in the EMB:

• Expect that in preparation of the trilogues, the Council will use the beginning of the week to engage with the Parliament’s sound amendments and their accompanying conclusive explanations and justifications diligently and comprehensively. Special attention should be paid to volume reduction during crises (Parliament position Art. 219a & 219b), crisis prevention, monitoring and management (amongst others Art. 1, 1a, 218b, 222, 222a), the Market Observatory (Art. 218a), and sufficient transparency in relation to intervention (Art. 16).
• Support the Parliament’s negotiating team in the trilogue and “super trilogue” to speak out strongly and in one voice in favour of the Parliament’s good position. 
• Count on the Commission to defend farmers and a sustainable future for food production during the trilogue.

An ambitious CMO reform is a key concern for many organisations from the environmental protection, development, and agricultural sectors. For example, on the occasion of the last trilogue on 3 March, numerous organisations came together in a joint letter to demand that the CAP reform be used to make agriculture fair and future-proof. Within the context of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, it has become even more evident that a reliable food supply chain is key and that no effort should be spared in preserving and strengthening food security. An uncertain future for its producers also puts the EU’s food security on the line.

Contacts:

EMB President Sieta van Keimpema (NL, DE, EN): +31 (0) 612 16 80 00

EMB Office Manager Silvia Däberitz (DE, EN, FR): +32 (0)2 808 1936

EMB Agricultural Policy Advisor and Press Officer Simon Bauer (DE, EN, FR): +32 (0)2 808 1934