EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski has argued for an increased Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget for the next period beginning in 2028. Speaking at a meeting of the European Parliament Agriculture Committee on the 9th January and later at a plenary session of the European Parliament on the 17th January he put forward his argument for an increased farm subsidy budget.
Some months earlier in an interview with the EU Commission news service Euractiv, Mr Wojciechowski said that the CAP budget was not sufficient to ensure food security which has been demonstrated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in the Ukraine. He also said the current CAP was spread too thinly and future payments should be directed at farmers and food production.
Speaking this month he said that due to high inflation the CAP budget was being eroded and every existing flexibility under the current framework aimed at minimising the impact of high inflation had already been used. He also argued that the rise in food prices had not been enough to counter the rise in input prices and that farming revenue was not rising enough to compensate for the erosion of CAP payments due to inflation.
He stressed that a stronger budget is required to safeguard “food security, farming and rural communities and environmental protection.” The CAP is worth €270 billion and talks on the next EU programming period for 2028-2035 have started.