The future Common Agricultural Policy must give regions a meaningful role in its implementation, reject a one-size-fits-all approach, provide a safety net for all farmers, support generational renewal and equip farmers to adapt to climate change, Piotr Całbecki (PL/EPP) told Members of the European Parliament today.
Addressing the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI), Piotr Całbecki (PL/EPP), President of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region and Chair of the European Committee of the Regions’ Commission for Natural Resources (NAT), presented the position of Europe’s regions and cities on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for 2028–2034. The exchange took place during the AGRI Committee’s discussion on the report on establishing the conditions for the implementation of Union support for the CAP for the period 2028–2034, for which Norbert Lins MEP (EPP) is rapporteur.
The position presented by Całbecki was unanimously adopted by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) at its Plenary Session on 1 July, following the opinion he prepared on the future of the CAP.
Give regions a real role in delivering the CAP
Całbecki stressed that regional and local authorities are directly involved in delivering agricultural policy and must therefore have a meaningful role in shaping how the future CAP is implemented. “Regional and local authorities play a key role in the implementation and oversight of agricultural policy,” Całbecki told MEPs. He called for regional authorities to be recognised as co-decision makers alongside Member States and to be involved in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the relevant plans. For the CoR, involving regions is particularly important because agricultural realities vary considerably across Europe. Decisions taken closer to farmers can better reflect the economic, social, geographical and environmental conditions of individual territories.
No to a one-size-fits-all CAP
The future CAP must remain a common European policy while providing enough flexibility to respond to the very different circumstances faced by farmers across Member States and regions. Całbecki stressed that agricultural policy cannot ignore existing social and economic disparities between European territories. Flexibility must therefore go hand in hand with fair competitive conditions, ensuring that differences in implementation do not place farmers in some parts of Europe at a disadvantage. A CAP capable of responding to regional differences, he argued, will be better placed to strengthen both the competitiveness of European agriculture and territorial cohesion.
A safety net for all farmers
Całbecki also called for the CAP to continue providing a reliable safety net for farmers throughout the European Union. He welcomed support per hectare differentiated according to farm size and highlighted the need to ensure that European agricultural funding reaches those who are genuinely engaged in farming. In this context, the CoR is calling for the definition of an “active farmer” to be reconsidered, also in light of the work being led in the European Parliament by rapporteur Norbert Lins. The objective should be a fair system capable of supporting viable European agriculture while recognising the different structures and sizes of farms across the Union.
Support young farmers and family farms
Generational renewal must be another central objective of the post-2027 CAP. Całbecki highlighted the particular challenges faced by young farmers and small family farms and called for support that takes account of their specific limitations and circumstances. Small and family farms also have an important role in maintaining agricultural activity from one generation to the next. Supporting them is therefore not only an economic question, but also essential to keeping rural communities alive and countering rural depopulation. Ensuring that young people can see a viable future in farming will require adequate financial support and conditions that make taking over and developing a farm economically sustainable.
Help farmers adapt to climate change
Całbecki warned that climate change is already having direct consequences for European agriculture, with heatwaves and other extreme conditions restricting production and damaging harvests. “Climate change is not something which is just our imagination. We are seeing this on a daily basis in our fields. Therefore we now have to work to counter this and ensure that farming is adapted to climate change.” Farmers, he stressed, cannot be expected to manage this transformation alone. The future CAP must give them the tools and financial support necessary to adapt, including measures to improve water management and strengthen the resilience of farms to increasingly difficult climatic conditions. The CoR is also calling for adjustments to the financing of environmental agricultural practices, while ensuring that the green transition does not impose disproportionate costs on farmers.