Copa and Cogeca welcome the own-initiative report on the long-term Vision for the EU’s Rural Areas – Towards stronger, connected, resilient and prosperous rural areas led by rapporteur MEP Isabel Carvalhais and adopted today by the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee (COM AGRI).
Following the launch of the European Commission’s Communication on this topic last year, the report voted today covers many important aspects in helping achieve stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive rural areas across the EU. The report accurately showcases the numerous challenges rural areas are facing while also underlining the opportunities in these regions.
Whilst the report does not focus explicitly on agriculture, Copa and Cogeca welcome the dedicated chapter on the central role agriculture plays in rural areas. It is essential to reiterate the importance of rural areas in ensuring food security, especially during these times of crisis, as well as ensuring energy efficiency, climate change mitigation and innovation, through agriculture and forestry. Particularly welcomed is the recognition of the essential role agricultural and forest cooperatives play in rural areas, in their economic, environmental and social sustainability and in the local economy.
Karl Bauer, Chairman of Copa Cogeca’s Working Party on Rural Development, underlined, “To fully achieve the goals set out in the report in relation to rural areas, it is necessary to have coherent policies, consistency between ambitions and means, a strong incentive system and avoid “one size fits all” approaches given the diversity of these regions. Synergies and coordination between EU funding instruments, which the report also calls for, are also essential to achieve the best results.”
Although investments are touched upon, we would have liked a stronger focus in the report on the importance of investment measures, which are essential in helping farmers, forest owners and cooperatives improve their overall performance as well as the sustainability of their holdings.
Copa and Cogeca fully support the aspects linked to rural observatory, Rural Pact and Rural Action Plan, rural proofing mechanism, the focus on young people and women and digitalisation.
On the other hand, while we appreciate the stance taken on large carnivores in acknowledging the impact that these populations of predators have in some of our most vulnerable areas, we regret the lack of action taken on active management measures related to large carnivores, on attack prevention and compensation costs, and on animal welfare provisions due to vicious attacks. The strength of the text does not replicate the force that these species have over our rural areas.
The future of rural areas cannot be decided without an active involvement of rural people, in particular farmers, forest owners and agricultural cooperatives, in the political debate about this.
Finally, Copa and Cogeca wish to highlight that although rural areas, including agriculture and forestry, are faced with numerous challenges (from climate change to access to services and infrastructure), the farming sector is ground for opportunity to increase the resilience and sustainability of our rural economy and EU society.
Artigo publicado originalmente em Copa Cogeca.
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