Sol Invictus
07-21-2010, 02:27 AM
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July 17 2010 (EUObserver (http://euobserver.com/9/30503)) - The list of extinct animal breeds in Europe may shortly include the 'young farmer', a representative from the dwindling demographic group has warned senior EU policymakers.
Speaking on Monday (19 July) as part of a two-day conference in Brussels on reforming of the bloc's common agricultural policy (CAP), the president of the European Council of Young Farmers, Joris Baecke, blasted a number of member states for failing to support the group.
"Only seven percent of European farmers are under the age of 35," Mr Baecke told delegates at the event organised by the European Commission. "We deeply regret that young farmers are not considered a priority."
Current EU support measures include 'installation aid', a payment to help young farmers setting up for the first time to overcome the high entry-level costs associated with the purchase of land and machinery.
Not all governments participate in the optional scheme however, with Malta and the Netherlands opting out from the beginning, while cash-strapped Ireland and Latvia have ceased to apply the measure as a result of the financial crisis.
The initiative offers farmers under 40 years of age a payment of up to €70,000, co-financed by Brussels and national capitals.
As delegates lunched on noticeably more modest fare than provided at recent finance events hosted in the commission's Charlemagne building, Mr Baecke explained that the number of young European farmers is continuing to decline, with potentially far-reaching consequences for the region.
Europe's younger citizens are baulking at the financial risks associated with a career in farming, throwing the market increasingly open to large-scale profit-driven businesses, he told EUobserver.
"Companies, including those from outside the EU, will step in," he said. "We will approach a system like the Ukraine or Russia where big companies rent the land, buy a hundred tractors, and farm only when grain prices are high."
Farmers told to stop whinging!
Other delegates at the conference told farmers to stop whinging however, adding that greater handouts from Brussels were unlikely to be forthcoming in the current age of European austerity.
As the commission prepares to come forward with a communication this autumn on the future shape of the CAP post 2013, the debate in many circles is increasingly focused on how Europe's farmers can help tackle the global problems of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.
"We have a big environmental crisis out there," said Ariel Brunner, head of EU policy with Birdlife International. "Talk of producing public goods should not just be an added-extra," he said, pointing to modern-day farming techniques as a major cause of environmental damage.
A report by MEPs earlier this month on CAP reform also emphasised this point, although several parliamentarians from agricultural constituencies noted that Europe's food security and farming competitiveness should be greater priorities.
"Farmers won't save themselves by moaning," Mr Brunner told Monday's audience which contained several MEPs working on the topic. "They need to get off a sinking boat and get on one that can sail into the future."
July 17 2010 (EUObserver (http://euobserver.com/9/30503)) - The list of extinct animal breeds in Europe may shortly include the 'young farmer', a representative from the dwindling demographic group has warned senior EU policymakers.
Speaking on Monday (19 July) as part of a two-day conference in Brussels on reforming of the bloc's common agricultural policy (CAP), the president of the European Council of Young Farmers, Joris Baecke, blasted a number of member states for failing to support the group.
"Only seven percent of European farmers are under the age of 35," Mr Baecke told delegates at the event organised by the European Commission. "We deeply regret that young farmers are not considered a priority."
Current EU support measures include 'installation aid', a payment to help young farmers setting up for the first time to overcome the high entry-level costs associated with the purchase of land and machinery.
Not all governments participate in the optional scheme however, with Malta and the Netherlands opting out from the beginning, while cash-strapped Ireland and Latvia have ceased to apply the measure as a result of the financial crisis.
The initiative offers farmers under 40 years of age a payment of up to €70,000, co-financed by Brussels and national capitals.
As delegates lunched on noticeably more modest fare than provided at recent finance events hosted in the commission's Charlemagne building, Mr Baecke explained that the number of young European farmers is continuing to decline, with potentially far-reaching consequences for the region.
Europe's younger citizens are baulking at the financial risks associated with a career in farming, throwing the market increasingly open to large-scale profit-driven businesses, he told EUobserver.
"Companies, including those from outside the EU, will step in," he said. "We will approach a system like the Ukraine or Russia where big companies rent the land, buy a hundred tractors, and farm only when grain prices are high."
Farmers told to stop whinging!
Other delegates at the conference told farmers to stop whinging however, adding that greater handouts from Brussels were unlikely to be forthcoming in the current age of European austerity.
As the commission prepares to come forward with a communication this autumn on the future shape of the CAP post 2013, the debate in many circles is increasingly focused on how Europe's farmers can help tackle the global problems of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.
"We have a big environmental crisis out there," said Ariel Brunner, head of EU policy with Birdlife International. "Talk of producing public goods should not just be an added-extra," he said, pointing to modern-day farming techniques as a major cause of environmental damage.
A report by MEPs earlier this month on CAP reform also emphasised this point, although several parliamentarians from agricultural constituencies noted that Europe's food security and farming competitiveness should be greater priorities.
"Farmers won't save themselves by moaning," Mr Brunner told Monday's audience which contained several MEPs working on the topic. "They need to get off a sinking boat and get on one that can sail into the future."