Current global uncertainty is another reason for the European Union to protect its agriculture sector, according to Copa Cogeca.

The comments from the umbrella group representing European farmers and agri-cooperatives follow a protest by 6,000 farmers against the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement outside the European Parliament in Strasbourg yesterday (Tuesday, January 20).

The protest, which also included 1,000 tractors, was organised by France's largest farming union FNSEA to conicide with a plenary (full) meeting of the parliament.

MEPs will decide today whether or not to refer the controversial EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

Copa Cogeca

Copa Cogeca said that yesterday's protest highlighted "a weakened and fragmented" Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), unfair trade agreements, along with bureaucracy and regulatory uncertainty that block sustainable investment and generational renewal.

Along with a "strong, common and well-funded CAP post-2027", the group called on the EU to engage in "fair and transparent trade that effectively safeguards our production standards and most sensitive sectors".

Copa Cogeca said farmers are "caught in a price squeeze between rising fertiliser and input costs and declining incomes".

"A clear vision and direction from the EU when it comes to agriculture and its future is profoundly missing.

"Trade policy cannot continue to reward lower standards while European farmers are asked to do more with less," the group said.

"The current global uncertainty is an additional reason for the EU to invest in and protect a sector that lies at the very foundation of the European project, that sustains rural communities while providing citizens with safe, high-quality, nutritious food, as well as feed, fuel and fibre," Copa Cogeca added.