The agreement reached by the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council on the next Common Agricultural Policy has been welcomed by FEFAC.

The new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will provide new market management tools. The European feed manufacturers federation recognized that through the market disturbance clause, the European Commission will be in the position to react more rapidly to adverse market conditions, e.g. to suspend more rapidly import duties for feed materials when necessary. 

“I have no doubt that the new risk management toolkit will be extremely useful for EU livestock farmers in the future”, says FEFAC President Ruud Tijssens. “Volatility on the agricultural market is here to stay. Therefore, the income stabilization tool is an appropriate measure to protect the income of EU livestock farmers, while limiting the pressure on the EU budget in a difficult context”.

FEFAC, however regreted that the additional flexibility granted to Member States could undermine the common dimension of the EU agricultural policy. Maintaining a level playing field among EU farmers is an objective of the CAP that has been neglected in the current reform. FEFAC now calls for a rapid agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework in order to provide the EU agricultural sector with more certainty.