The European Farmers’ Confederation (COPA) and the General Confederation of Agricultural Cooperatives in the EU (COGECA) have sent an open letter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, expressing deep concern over recent discussions regarding the reallocation of EU funding into a single fund that would lead to the elimination of the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), the pillars of the CAP. For COPA-COGECA, this change would represent a substantial modification in the governance of the upcoming Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), and could undermine the CAP, a community policy that remains today the cornerstone of Europe’s competitiveness and food sovereignty.
As stated in the letter, dismantling the CAP structure along with the adoption of a single national programming approach by each Member State “will undermine the common character of European policies. In addition to further weakening the single market, it will also have far-reaching consequences for food production and security, as well as for the survival of vibrant and populated rural areas across the EU. European spending clearly has added value when it comes to policies like the CAP, and this must be recognized and maintained,” says COPA-COGECA.
Together with 28 other leading agri-food organizations in the EU, they had previously conveyed to President von der Leyen and EU leaders that increasing the CAP budget is not merely a matter of financial support, but “a strategic investment in Europe’s future resilience and security.”
This was reflected in the conclusions of the strategic dialogue submitted last September: the multiple transitions required in European agriculture can only be achieved if they are adequately funded.
As the European Commission prepares to present the next MFF, scheduled for July 2025, COPA-COGECA calls on the Commission to prioritize the agricultural sector as a key pillar of Europe’s future and urge the inclusion of an automatic, flexible rapid-response mechanism in the MFF to adjust financial allocations in real-time according to actual observed inflation rates rather than forecasts.
“True to the spirit of the EU’s founding fathers, who championed the Union’s first common policy, we are today calling for the preservation of the unity and strength that binds our farming communities and the EU as a whole,” the letter states, warning: “To thrive, our communities need more than promises: we need stability, predictability, trust, and legal certainty.”
COPA-COGECA concludes its letter by requesting a meeting with President von der Leyen to continue the dialogue initiated in the context of the 2024 protests.
