Challenges faced by the Belgian Presidency in the field of Agriculture
By Sabine Laruelle, Belgian Federal Minister for Agriculture
In my opinion, the challenges faced by the Belgian Presidency in the field of agriculture will be centered around the launch of a political debate on the CAP post-2013 on the one hand, and the review of the recommendations given by the High Level Expert Group on Milk on the other.
In the field of agriculture, taking into account climate change, global food issues, unstable agricultural product prices and sanitary threats, we cannot do without an ambitious policy with adequate resources at the European level to preserve the future of agriculture and the availability of safe and affordable food stuffs.
Belgium is convinced that agriculture as a whole, and the CAP in particular, can contribute significantly to the set of objectives defined by the « Europe 2020 » strategy. Acknowledging this goes hand in hand with allocating the necessary and needed funds for the agricultural sector to reach these objectives.
Reforming the Common Fisheries Policy will be another priority of the Belgian Presidency who, in doing so, will need to highlight the collaboration between the scientific community and the fisheries sector. The Presidency will also work towards reaching a political agreement on the improvement and simplification of the rural development policy.
Together as Member States, we have made the choice, following the invitation of Paris, to have a common agriculture and food policy. Belgium therefore invites all those that wish, to take part in this big open debate, in order to progress concretely towards this objective. This is important because European agriculture concerns our jobs as much as our food and because agriculture also represents public properties and positive externalities.