EU agriculture going through tough times

A new survey released by Copa & Cogeca confirms the difficult situation facing EU farmers and their cooperatives, hit hard by increasingly volatile markets, high input costs and red tape. This was also shown by new figures from the EU statistical office Eurostat which estimates another 2% drop in EU farm incomes this year, compared to 2015, which was already a difficult year.

Speaking in Brussels, Copa & Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen said “The survey confirms that although confidence has picked up slightly amongst some farmers towards the end of 2016 after a slight recovery in the EU dairy and pork markets, the situation remains unfavourable. Farmers face increasing challenges ranging from volatile markets, high input costs, increasing consumer demands and a continuation of the Russian ban on agricultural exports. They are also stifled by increasing levels of red tape under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The situation is also very difficult in the EU arable crops sector and farmers´ mood in this sector is declining.”

“The difficult situation was also confirmed by new figures from Eurostat released today which estimates another 2% drop on average in EU farm incomes in real terms this year, compared to 2015. This figure nevertheless masks big differences between Member States with declines of as much as 25,5% seen in Estonia and 25% in Denmark, compared to 2015. In France, they fell by -15,8%, Belgium (-12,4%), Latvia (-12,3%), Slovenia (-10,7%), Italy (-7,7%), Germany (-4,7%), United Kingdom (-4,0%), Luxembourg (-1,6%), Greece (-1,2%), Sweden (-0,1%). This demonstrates the need for a stable, simplified and market orientated CAP in the future“.

The survey on farmers confidence was carried out twice a year in Belgium (Flanders), Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden and United Kingdom (England and Wales) and over 8000 farmers were interviewed. The full report is available at http://www.copa-cogeca.eu/Download.ashx?ID=1604299&fmt=pdf

For more information:
Copa Cogeca
www.copa-cogeca.eu