Remarks by Commissioner Wojciechowski at the press conference on the Common Agricultural Policy in the next MFF

Source: European Commission (EC) i, published on Tuesday, June 2 2020.

Following the Corona pandemic, the context for the MFF negotiations has changed substantially.

As President von der Leyen has clearly underlined, despite the unprecedented circumstances, food remains available to every citizen in abundant quantity and quality and this is only thanks to our farmers, and food value chain actors.

In order to repair the immediate economic and social damage caused by the pandemic and set the Union firmly on the path to a sustainable and resilient recovery, we need adequate funding.

The reinforced multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027 equips the Union with a long-term budget to drive the green and digital transitions and build a fairer and more resilient economy.

I would now like to give you some key figures. But I would like to stress that I will only talk about amounts in current prices. Current prices capture best what amounts farmers and rural areas will actually get in their pockets over the coming years. So called constant prices are a mere budgetary accounting tool.

The revised proposal for the MFF 2021-2027 substantially reinforces the CAP funding. In total, EUR 391 billion is proposed for agriculture and rural development, commensurate to the importance of agriculture and rural development in the EU. This means that the proposed funding is 6.6 billion or some 2% higher than the amount one arrives at when sticking to 2020 funding levels. It is also 26.4 billion higher than the Commission's 2018 proposal.

For the first pillar of the CAP, so for direct payments to farmers and markets, the Commission proposed EUR 290.7 billion. With an increase of 4.5 billion over the Commission's 2018 proposal, this is a very good deal for farmers.

The bulk of this will be for the direct payments to farmers.

In the coming months we will of course also continue to carefully follow market developments and, if a crisis develops, respond appropriately.

For rural development, the amount proposed is EUR 100.7 billion.

This includes also the additional funding from the European Union Recovery Instrument (‘Next Generation EU') [EUR 16.48 billion in current prices].

This will help farmers and rural areas to deliver the green transition and support investments and reforms essential to Europe's ambitious environmental targets.

The Commission has put the revised MFF proposal on the table. Now it is for the European leaders to come to an agreement.

The Commission will of course continue providing support both to the European Parliament and Council during this negotiation process, so as to avoid any further delays in the negotiations. A rapid agreement on the MFF is now more than ever needed.