Latest EU Barometer Shows Citizens Support CAP – Our Politicians Must Do the Same

IFA President Francie Gorman has called on EU Budget negotiators to take heed of the latest Eurobarometer survey findings and deliver a strong CAP budget for EU farmers and its citizens.

He was responding to the tenth Eurobarometer survey on ‘Europeans, Agriculture and the CAP’. This survey was conducted in all 27 EU Member States between May and June, with 26,456 respondents from different social and demographic groups.

70% of Europeans surveyed said CAP benefits all Europeans. 93% credited CAP with contributing to a stable supply of food in the EU. 92% acknowledge that CAP ensured reasonable food prices for consumers. Over two in three respondents agreed that the CAP is delivering on protecting the environment and tackling climate change.

“EU farmers and citizens are invested in CAP and see its value. It’s time its political representatives listen and take heed, led by our own Irish Government in the next few weeks, to restore and deliver an increased CAP budget within expected updated negotiation positions toward agreement on the next EU Budget mid-October” Francie Gorman said. 

“It’s a complete political contradiction for Ursula Van Der Leyen to say in her State of the Union address that ‘Europe’s farmers are the best in the world. And we will support them every step of the way’ and then propose a 22% cut in the CAP budget. It’s particularly hard to take when the overall EU budget under the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) is proposed to be increased by 65%” he said. 

“We have engaged with all the relevant actors and provided tangible proposals on how the CAP budget can be increased. Irrespective of the other pressures that exist in framing the next overall EU budget, CAP and food security has to remain front and centre,” Francie Gorman said.