The majority of German farmers are dissatisfied with EU agricultural policy, with many seeking assistance in improving their environmental credentials, a survey has found.
According to the survey, by the research institute forsa, 91% of the companies want more support for animal-friendly livestock farming and 83% consider production with high environmental standards as very important.
Greener Working
Some 44% of respondents said that they expected flat-rate premiums to be abolished by 2030, if greener ways of working are promoted strongly.
"The majority of the farmers want an agricultural policy that offers them fair prices and incentives to work in a more environmentally friendly way", said Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU) federal managing director Leif Miller.
Miller called on Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture Julia Klöckner to take this appeal to the next meeting of EU agriculture ministers.
Moreover, two-thirds of farmers are discontent with Klöckner's work, while many are also critical of the work undertaken by the farming industry's largest lobby organisation, the German Farmers Association (DBV).
Future Of Agricultural Policy
EU agriculture ministers are meeting this week to discuss how environmentally sound the EU agricultural policy should be in the future.
Other countries like France and the Netherlands are already calling for binding minimum budgets for environmental protection in the EU, whereas Klöckner has thus far remained silent about the topic.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Jana Zimmermann. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
