(Brussels) The legislative package on the CAP presented by the European Commission today “opens up new opportunities for farmers”, Commissioner Raffaele Fitto, designated for Cohesion and Reforms, said, stressing that: “Our goal is to intervene in the current programming to deliver concrete results in a short time. We want to act immediately, with determination and effectiveness”. Mr Fitto added: “We are listening to the needs of the agricultural sector and responding in a targeted way” to farmers’ demands, “to put them in the best conditions to work, strengthen the sector’s competitiveness, and offer European citizens a modern, efficient agriculture focused on the product — not on bureaucracy”.
Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis remarked: “We need to support Europe’s farmers with rules that are simpler, more proportionate, and better tailored to their needs. Our measures will help save nearly €1.6 billion per year for Europe’s farmers while making rules and supports easier to navigate”. Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen pointed out: “We are bringing back pragmatism in the Common Agricultural Policy. Our proposals today strike a balance between the need to have a policy fit for the realities on the ground while safeguarding a certain stability for all agricultural stakeholders. The Commission is on farmers’ side, and we are doing our best to cut the bureaucracy so they can focus on what they do best: producing food for all of us while protecting our natural resources”.