CEJA Young Farmers' Gazette | October 2024

Dear CEJA’s LinkedIn Network,

Welcome to what is already the fourth edition of our newsletter, a monthly recap of CEJA’s activities on policy, projects, events and our fantastic European young farmers. We hope you like and get used to this format, and very much look forward to having you feedback in the comment section.

It is hard to sum up October, which has seen many developments in all facets of CEJA:

• Internally, with a fruitful CEJA working group in Brussels;
• On the side of institutions, with the follow-up of the aftermath of the strategic dialogue on the future of agriculture, the preparation of the Commissioner hearings, and many other institutional developments: the AGRIFISH Council, 2 plenary sittings of the European Parliament, and even reflections in the European Economic and Social Committee and at the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development);
• In the relationship with other stakeholders and project partners, with many interactions in Brussels, but also in Bucharest for the Farmers Congress of Copa-Cogeca, in Paris for the World Dairy Summit, in Berlin for the ENFASYS Project and for the ENASP Conference on social protection in agriculture, and in Sevilla for a SafeHabitus workshop on the social conditions of agriculture in southern Spain.

Internal work with young farmers: the very needed basis

CEJA’s action would be none without the regular insights from member organisations, whether it is in CEJA monthly working group, or through regular exchanges from a distance with what we call “CEJA delegates”, meaning the national representatives of each of our 33 national member organisations, covering 22 Member States, as well as the Wales, England, and Serbia. This month again, we give you an overview of an intense 2-day meeting in Brussels.

A fruitful CEJA working group with a focus on the CAP Green Architecture

CEJA working group gathered nearly 40 young farmers in Brussels on the 14th and 15th of October. Here are some takeaways:

• A "Green Architecture Day" organized by Aalt van Middendorp and led by Vice-Presidents Katharina Schobersberger and Matteo Pagliarani . Why? To be entirely devoted, for one full day, to working on the environmental and climate instruments of the Common Agricultural Policy. This reflection on both mandatory and voluntary environmental tools was part of our broader effort to develop new mandate for the post-2027 CAP, and saw the participation of farming representatives (Jan Plagge from IFOAM Organics Europe , Paulo Gouveia from COPA COGECA ) and environmental NGOs (Celia Nyssens from European Environmental Bureau , Giulia Riedo from WWF European Policy Office and Marilda Dhaskali from BirdLife Europe and Central Asia ). We are grateful for our guests who shared views on the Green Architecture, the recent report on the Strategic Dialogue, as well as their organisations’ priorities for the upcoming CAP reform.
• A trade discussion, thanks to an exchange of views with Paolo Garzotti , head of unit Latin America at DG TRADE and Miriam García Ferrer , Cabinet expert for EVP Commissioner Dombrovskis on the concerns of the sector in relation to the EU-Mercosur Agreement and other trade topics;
• MFF talks – as we started our discussions on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), with capacity-building by CEJA Secretary General Marion Picot and first reflections from CEJA members.
• Strategic Dialogue brainstorming exercises, focusing on the outcomes of the Strategic Dialogue on the future of agriculture, more particularly on the recommendations for a European Board on AgriFood (EBAF) as well as the benchmarking system.
• EU enlargement, with a follow-up exchange after an initial discussion last February.
• Reporting on policy files that CEJA has been involved in, including on the Unfair Trading Practices directive.

More about our October Working Group here

Co-legislators in action, Commission in formation: a dense institutional follow-up

Without further ado, here is how we got to monitor and directly interact with the European Parliament, the Council’s AGRIFISH, the European Commission, the European Economic and Social Committee, and even the OECD.

COMAGRI’s interest in the strategic dialogue

On October the 14th, CEJA President Peter Meedendorp actively took part in a public hearing organised by the AGRI Committee in the European Parliament, to discuss the outcomes of the Strategic Dialogue on the future of agriculture. One key message he wanted to leave: “the outcomes of the Dialogue form a consensual basis for the EU mandate ahead, let’s not make them a political battle”.

CEJA stands active and ready to continue to contribute to the discussion unfolding from the report, including the important conversation around a Vision for the future of Agriculture and Food, which will have to be presented by the next Commissioner for Agriculture, Christophe Hansen if confirmed by the European Parliament.

Thank you again to the AGRI Committee for the invitation.

You can rewatch the hearing here .

Preparing for Commissioner hearings

Speaking of which, CEJA is looking very carefully at the ongoing process for the confirmation of the new College of Commissioners proposed by the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The confirmation process for the European Commission involves questions from the Parliament, to which Commissioner-designates already provided their replies , as well as hearings where the European Parliament evaluates each proposed Commissioner. Candidates are therefore scrutinised by relevant parliamentary committees, answering questions on their expertise, priorities, and vision. If committees have concerns, they may request additional written responses or hold further hearings. After all candidates are reviewed, the Parliament votes on whether to confirm the entire College of Commissioners. The vote is currently scheduled to take place during the 25-28 November session in Strasbourg. If approved, the new Commission can begin its term after formal appointment by the European Council.

The hearing of Commissioner-designate Christophe Hansen (Agriculture & Food) will take place on Monday 4th November from 18:30 to 21:30. In his written replies , Mr. Hansen already provided elements regarding the foreseen Action Plan for generational renewal.

All hearings are public and can be followed live. You can watch them on Parliament’s webstreaming and on Ebs/EbS+ .

Strengthening support for young farmers (including access to land!), say AGRIFISH ministers

The Hungarian Presidency “Conclusions on a farmer-focused post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy” have been supported by all Member States except Romania – due to the absence of provisions for external convergence for direct payments.

Agricultural ministers call on keeping a dedicated CAP budget, going against the latest rumours of a worrying possibility to have a new MFF structure merging all programmes, and leading to a methodology of single fund to be distributed by Member States with reform conditionalities.

CEJA welcomes a point 20 specifically dedicated to the recognition of “the negative trend of aging farmer population and the importance of sufficient generational renewal and increased participation of women”, as well as the call to “further strengthen the support for young farmers; to help them to start or continue agricultural activities; to facilitate access to financial resources and agricultural land; to incentivise the transfer of farms to make agriculture more attractive to the younger generation and new entrants”.

Despite land ownership being a national competence, CEJA, which has always asked for this topic to be tackled at EU level, very much welcomes the mention of access to land. The relationship between land aspects and the CAP makes no doubt, nor the urgent necessity to share information and good practices between Member States with different situations and approaches. “Land issues go far beyond technical matters, laying at the core of the vision of agriculture the EU wants to promote, whether on the front of food security, sustainable agriculture and farming system, generational renewal, or human rights” (CEJA, 2023, Access to Land: are we losing the European plot? here ).

The Council calls on this document to be considered in the preparation of the new Commission Vision for Agriculture and food sector, and for the legislative proposal for a new CAP.

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EP Plenary highlights

Who says October, says 2 plenary sittings in Strasbourg for the members of the European Parliament. Here were some of the topics of high importance for young farmers:

• The approval of the EU budget for 2025 – noting that MEPs want to boost programmes supporting young people, agriculture and rural areas, including with an additional €70 million for Erasmus and an additional €96 million for agriculture. More info here ;
• A debate on extreme wildfires and the need for further EU climate action on adaptation and mitigation;
• The situation of animal health in Europe, with an exchange of views with the European Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides on how to prevent and prepare for future sanitary crises in agriculture. Over the last few months, animal health has been a topic creating more and more concerns for our young farmers, whether it is with the African Swine Fever (ASF), the Avian Influenza, or more recently diseases transmitted by midges: the Blue Tongue (BT) and Episodic Haemorrhagic Disease (EHD);
• A debate on the world mental health day, an opportunity for CEJA to remind (see our post ) that mental wellbeing is essential for everyone, including those in the agricultural sector;
• A debate on closing the EU skills gap – very essential in the agricultural sector, when we know the diversity and complexity of skills required to succeed. The exchange was framed as “how to support people in the digital and green transitions to ensure inclusive growth and competitiveness in line with the Draghi report”.

EESC conference on intergenerational solidarity

In CEJA, we often say that getting more young farmers setting-up in agriculture is a lot about thinking in terms of intergenerational dialogue, transmission, but also solidarity.

Our Vice-President Elisabeth Hiden got a chance to explain CEJA’s perspective in a conference organised by the Civil Society Organisations' Group of the European Economic and Social Committee on 'Promoting Intergenerational Solidarity in the EU'.

“Why is it important that we collaborate across generations? Knowledge sharing is an important aspect. And as one said at the meeting today: "If you let adults choose a toy, they choose the safest, if you let children choose, they choose the funniest. Collaborating can be good" commented Elisabeth Hidén after the conference.

“From an agricultural perspective, it is very much about generational shifts and the exchange of experience. Give the old a chance to retire and thus the young a chance to enter the sector, but also to include young people in the debate and decision-making”.

In addition to the meeting, CEJA Vice-President could meet with Seamus Boland , President of the Civil Society Organisations' Group in the EESC, and former dairy farmer.

The conclusions of the event can be found here , and include specific points on rural areas and their demographic challenge; youth in rural areas and in agriculture; the importance of generational renewal in agriculture; and the importance of including youth in decision-making processes.

OECD conference on Sustainable Agricultural Productivity

CEJA Vice-President Rūdolfs Pulkstenis was at the OECD - OCDE Conference on Agricultural Productivity, giving fruitful exchanges and the occasion to state that young farmers need:

• A clear direction - “We are surrounded by requirements coming from a diversity of actors”;
• Robust tools – “From 2017, I went to banks almost every year to get more investment capacity and set up full-time. I engaged a lot of means in the process, but I had some ammunition: my knowledge of the banking system, some practical experience and savings, and a very important collateral, my land”.
• More certainty on the policy & market outcomes – “Who says investment, also says return, whether it is for productive or non-productive goods. From that perspective, we still have a lot of efforts to make”.

Many thanks to the OECD for the opportunity, with special thanks to Jesús Antón and ágnes Szuda for the coordination.

More information and the recording of the event here .

Continuing dialogue with stakeholders

Copa-Cogeca Farmers’ Congress 2024

CEJA President Peter Meedendorp travelled to Bucharest, Romania, to participate in the Farmers Congress 2024 organised by COPA COGECA . During the event, Peter joined a panel discussion on the critical question: "What agricultural policy does the EU need?". CEJA is eager to continue collaborating with other farmers' organisations in the face of the big policy challenges ahead, whether it is for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the future of the CAP, and all other policies affecting the future of agriculture in the EU and young farmers.

4th meeting of EU CAP Network best practices food supply chain

On the 9th of October was the 4th Forum on Best Practices in the Agrifood Supply Chain organised by the EU CAP Network , attended by Marion Picot and Sébastien PEREL , but also some of CEJA delegates (Sandra Eimane , Santiago Campos Martínez ).

In the last few years, CEJA participated to all four editions. This one was all about returning value to farmers, a topic that has been on top of our own agenda.

If you want to find more, check the main takeaways from Marion Picot here , and the EU CAP Network website here .

Thank you to the team of the EU CAP Network, in particular the Implementation Team, David Lamb , and Alistair Prior for the great moderation, and thank you to the team of DG Agriculture and Rural Development, present all day to share their policy expertise and hear participants’ ideas.

IDF’s World Dairy Summit

CEJA Vice-President Elisabeth Hidén also had the opportunity to speak at the World Dairy Summit organised by the International Dairy Federation . The framing of Elisabeth’s intervention, proposed by the organisers, could not have been more aligned with what CEJA is coming for at an event: “vision and enablers to solve the issue of generational renewal”. This is what CEJA has been working on for decades, but also recently in the Strategic dialogue on the future of agriculture, pointing out the urgent necessity to have a proper reflection on the livestock sector.

It will all be about the capacity for this new EU mandate to set up a vision for the livestock sector, and more specifically the dairy sector, as part of the general Vision for the Future of Agriculture and Food.

More about the World Dairy Summit 2024 here .

Project team on the move

Enfasys General Assembly

Our Project Officer Anna van de Moosdijk was in Berlin at the Humboldt-Universit?t zu Berlin for the General Assembly of the ENFASYS HEU Research Project.

The ENFASYS Project is researching how to overcome barriers to sustainable farming systems by implementing policy and business interventions and lead to systemic change. In this framework, CEJA is conducting a case study in Slovenia on the situation of Direct Selling with the support of our member organisation ZSPM Zveza slovenske pode?elske mladine .

It has been the occasion to present the first outcomes of policy workshops held over the last few weeks, with the preliminary aggregated results presented by Pascal Grohmann and Peter H. Feindt . It was also the time to plan ahead for the upcoming activities of our case study on the ground.

More about the Enfasys’ recent activities here .

SafeHabitus Autumn School

Furthermore, our project manager @Mario Béjar Fuentes joined the @SafeHabitus Autumn school in the south of Spain to discuss and research social conditions in Agriculture. During this workshop, participants visited a local berry farm to explored challenges and opportunities related to agricultural migrant workers. The following day, the group gained important insights on the topics of farm safety as well as attractiveness of farming as a profession. ?

More information on the SafeHabitus project can be found here .

What to expect in November?

As mentioned earlier, we’ll kick off the month strong with a deep dive into the Commission Hearings in the European Parliament, which are scheduled from the 4th until the 12th of November. The big question on everyone’s mind: Will the nominees pass the test?

Also this month, CEJA’s working group will meet in Salzburg, Austria for an exciting seminar hosted by our Austrian members LJ? and JLW. Our young farmer delegates from all over Europe will have the opportunity to experience the best that Austrian agriculture has to offer since the seminar agenda is packed full with insightful panels, high-level guest speakers, and alpine farm visits. Definitely something to look forward to!