AGERPRES special correspondent Florin Stefan reports: Romanian MEP Daniel Buda (National Liberal Party - PNL), who is Vice-President of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI), asked the relevant European Commissioner on Thursday, during the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget should remain separate and have adequate and guaranteed financing in the next multiannual financial framework.
The change in philosophy of the new multiannual financial framework, the first version of which will be presented by the European Commission next week, is causing concern among many MEPs, as it will almost certainly provide for the merging of previously distinct allocations and very likely smaller funds for cohesion and the CAP.
"Mr. (European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, Christophe Hansen), the CAP budget must remain separate, in no way diluted in other policies and even less can it be reduced. Touching the CAP budget today means weakening the backbone of the European Union," Buda told the EP plenum, during a debate on the "Future of the Common Agricultural Policy after 2027".
He said that the Common Agricultural Policy is not about subsidies, but "about food, safety and the future of European villages", which today are "slowly dying".
"A hundred farms disappear every day, endangering our food security. Young farmers no longer believe in us today. If we reduce the budget, we will accelerate the abandonment of European agriculture, our villages will become open-air museums, and we will import food full of pesticides from third countries," pleaded the EPP MEP.
"I therefore ask you, Commissioner, today and unequivocally, that the CAP budget remains separate, with adequate and guaranteed funding post-2027. It is a red line, and whoever crosses this line assumes the beginning of the disintegration of the European Union," the Vice-President of the EP's AGRI Committee also stated.
The European Commission will publish on July 16 the legislative proposal on the EU budget for the period 2028-2034.
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