Luis Planas: 'We have to make farmers feel that they are represented in the new CAP'

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, was received in Copenhagen (Denmark)

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, pointed out that the aim of the discussion that is now getting underway within the European Union on the new Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034 and the future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) must be "to ensure that our farmers and livestock farmers feel represented and linked to the European budget", and that it responds to their real needs.

At the informal meeting of Agriculture and Fisheries Ministers in Copenhagen, Denmark, other specific issues, such as the green transition, competitiveness and innovation, were discussed. In an external context of tensions of various kinds, the agri-food system must not lose its central importance within the European Union.

The minister assured that, in this context, the European Commission's proposal does not have a clear approach that follows the structured dialogue it opened a year and a half ago with agricultural organisations on the future of the CAP and rural areas, nor the approach set out in the Vision for Agriculture and Food, presented last January. "We expected the Commission's message to focus on the challenges we face in the short term: geopolitics, climate change and the profitability of the sector," the minister said.

Unanimous rejection by the government and professional organisations

Planas recalled that the European Commission's proposal, both in terms of the orientation of the CAP, included in a block together with other EU policies rather than being singled out, and in terms of the budget, has been unanimously rejected in Spain by the government and professional organisations, as was confirmed at the meeting of the Agricultural Council held on 5 September 2025. On Friday, Planas will meet with Agri-food Cooperatives, and the day before he will meet with fishing organisations to discuss the cuts in the Common Fisheries Policy. Neither Spain nor the European Union can allow the agri-food system to fall behind the continent's global competitiveness and sustainability.

The Copenhagen meeting is the first meeting of agriculture ministers since the Commission presented its proposal on the financial framework in July, and despite the informal nature of the meeting, the issue is now at the centre of all discussions and talks. Thus, the working document for the meeting proposed addressing competitiveness, innovation and the green transition in the agri-food sector, issues that, the minister reiterated, depend on the CAP.

Non official translation