Watch: CAP needs to provide a 'way of life' with a return
An Irish MEP has called on the EU to agree a Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that provides a way of life for young farmers that will give them a return on their investment and labour.
According to Ireland South MEP Billy Kelleher, this is one of the "fierce challenges" facing generational renewal in European and Irish farming.
Looking ahead to the continuing negotiations in the EU on the future CAP, Kelleher told Agriland in Brussels: "The challenge is whether or not enough money will be provided in the budget. The parliament is negotiating its position, it has outlined that it is looking for around €430 billion.
"What’s on the table at the moment is about €290 billion, so there’s a shortfall of €150 billion, which is a substantial sum of money, and we do need to see where we can bridge that gap," he added.
"So there are a number of issues that are very important: number 1, that the parliament’s position is defended, in negotiations with the [member states]; and number 2, when there’s a final agreement on the context of the agricultural budget, the Common Agricultural Policy, that then there is actually money to underpin it," Kelleher said.
He went on: "We have fierce challenges in agriculture, right across the European Union, in Ireland as well, in relation to intergenerational renewal; whether or not young people see farming as a viable way of life for a return on their work and investment."
"So the Common Agricultural Policy has to underpin financial viability of agriculture as well, and that is a key issue.
According to Kelleher, this highlights a "more fundamental issue".
"That’s whether or not people, and generations of younger people, see agriculture as a viable way of life in terms of a reward for their investment, for their labour, and ensuring that Europe has self sufficiency in food production," he said.
The MEP warned that a lack of this could feed into a "broader issue" of food price inflation and food sovereignty.
"If we don’t produce food at a reasonable standard, at a reasonable price, will then very quickly that feeds into food inflation.
"So from my perspective we need to see a strong Common Agricultural Policy budget, that is underpinned with clear policies to ensure intergenerational renewal, and young people seeing agriculture as a way of life, but not only a way of life, a way of life with return for their work and investment," Kelleher said.
He added: "That feeds into the whole issue of rural communities across Europe. The best way to ensure we have economically viable rural communities is to have a strong agricultural sector that’s vibrant and dynamic and that is renewing itself all the time in terms of younger cohorts of people coming into it."
