Maroš Šefčovič

Executive Vice-President for a European Green Deal,

Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight

Janusz Wojciechowski
Commissioner for Agriculture

March, 5th 2024

Dear Vice-President, dear Commissioner,

For several months now, major demonstrations involving large numbers of farmers are taking
place in many EU Member States. Each of these demonstrations is not simply the result of a
national situation specific to each Member State, but rather the symptom of a Europe-wide
crisis.

We, the ministers of agriculture of France, Spain, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech
Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, note that there are common
motivations and similar demands being expressed across Europe through these farmers'
protests. The low average income of farmers, compared to the rest of the population, and the
rise in production costs and production standards, against the backdrop of inflation amplified
by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, are the catalysts for these movements
throughout Europe.

Beyond these circumstantial motivations, more structural concerns are being expressed.
Among the issues legitimately raised by farmers across Europe are the perception of a lack of
long-term prospects for their profession, a failure to recognise the strategic nature of their
activity, the need for transparent and thorough consultation given the direct impact European
regulations have on their work and the sector's lack of attractiveness. This situation is leading
to difficulties in renewing the generations of producers, which is generating deep-seated fears
for the future of the farming sector. These fears are fuelled by a certain amount of rhetoric,
which tends to call for a form of decline in agricultural activity on the one hand, and on the
other hand, by the way in which farmers perceive the European Green Deal, which generates
concerns rather than shared ambitions.

In all our Member States, farmers are questioning the accumulation of standards on their
farms (increasingly arising from outside the CAP), even though they are the first victims of
climate change, which is impacting their activity more and more often and more severely.
Without questioning the need to take action for the climate and protect resources, we note
that these new and even higher standards have become increasingly difficult for farmers to
accept, especially when the same production standards may not be required for products from
third countries. Finally, European farmers, who for the most part remain deeply attached to
the CAP, are having more difficulty perceiving the direction that has been given to this policy.
The current CAP pursues so many different objectives. . It is evident after the first year of
implementation its management is becoming extremely complex both for farmers and
administrations. The political vision underlying its main objectives, enshrined in the Treaty on
the Functioning of the European Union, must remain a critical priority.

We are determined to provide the needed answers within our own Member States. But a crisis
on a European scale calls for European responses, commensurate with the legitimate
demands being voiced throughout the Union.

We therefore welcome the letter sent by the Presidency to the European Commission after
the last Council meeting, and call upon the European Commission to propose concrete steps
forward and precise solutions to the difficulties that were highlighted by all the Ministers on
Monday 26 February at the meeting of the Council of Agriculture Ministers of the European
Union.

First of all, we are asking for very short-term responses to urgent problems, which are
sometimes quite simple to resolve if we collectively give ourselves the means to do so. We
know that the Commission is willing to respond, and we recognise that the work has already
begun. We are now expecting strong and immediate action on issues such as system of
conditionality, the pressure of controls, largely due to the AMS implementation, the right to
error, and simplifying the management of CAP national strategic plans.

But we also insist on the need to give clear perspectives to farmers who have been mobilized
for weeks. It is necessary to act politically in the medium term and to give ourselves a clarified
action timetable, including specific milestones. It is crucial for us to be able to communicate
to farmers about the midterm changes before autumn and to make them as visible as possible.

We call upon the Commission to define its action plan more precisely, both in terms of the
direction it wishes to take, and the means and method it intends to deploy. In particular, the
willingness to adapt the CAP relevant basic acts needs to be clarified, and targeted on the
precise needs that we collectively wish to address. Beyond the CAP, the Commission's
intentions to strengthen the place of farmers in the food supply chain must also be clearly
specified. Finally, the Commission will have to provide analysis and respond in relation to
possible distortion of competition from imported products.

Given the level of farmers' expectations, it is of upmost importance that we know quickly what
changes will be made and in what timeframe. We need to move forward together, in a
concrete way, to provide farmers with tangible answers.

This is why we now need a timetable for action that will enable us to complete the work we
are undertaking to meet the expectations of European farmers and consolidate the food
security and strategic autonomy of the European Union and its Member States.
Marc Fesneau Luis Planas Puchades
French Minister of Agriculture and Food Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries
Sovereignty and Food

Norbert Totschnig Kiril Vatev

Austrian Federal Minister of Agriculture, Bulgarian Minister of Agriculture and
Forestry, Regions and Water Management Food

Marija Vučković Dr Maria PANAYIOTOU

Croatian Minister of Agriculture Cypriot Minister of Agriculture, Rural
Development and Environment

Marek Výborný Madis Kallas

Czech Minister of Agriculture Estonian Minister of Regional Affairs and
Agriculture

Sari Essayah Eleftherios Avgenakis

Finnish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Greek Minister of Rural Development and
Food

István Nagy Charlie Mc Conalogue

Hungarian Minister of Agriculture Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and
the Marine

Francesco Lollobrigida Armands Krauze

Italian Minister of Agriculture, Food Latvian Minister for Agriculture
Sovereignty and Forestry

Kestutis Navickas Martine Hansen

Lithuanian Minister of Agriculture Luxembourg Minister of Agriculture, Food
and Viticulture

Hon Dr. Anton Refalo

Maltese Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries Czesław Siekierski
and Animal Rights Polish Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development
Maria do Céu Antunes Florin Ionut Barbu
Portuguese Minister of Agriculture and Food Romanian Minister of Agriculture and
Rural Development

Richard Takáč Mateja Čalušić

Slovak Minister of Agriculture and Rural Slovenian Minister of Agriculture,
Development Forestry and Food