At the Agriculture and Fishers Council of Ministers today, Luxembourg Minister of Agriculture, Viticulture and Consumer Protection, Fernand Etgen, called for a simplification of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) to give it the capacity to confront the problems faced by the agriculture industry and communities. The minister also voiced strong support for new efforts to protect animal welfare.
The industry and wider communities face broad challenges related to the environment, economic questions and sanitation, as well as the viability and vitality of rural communities, generational succession, markets and strengthening of the position of farmers.
Minister Etgen is convinced that a strong CAP with an appropriate budget is able to provide solutions to these priorities, though while the challenges are confronted by communities across Europe there are regional differences. He therefore advocates a common approach with a sufficient level of subsidiarity.
Minister Etgen also considers it imperative to simplify the procedures, the programming and the implementation of the CAP, convinced that this will increase its effectiveness considerably. Simplification therefore remains a guiding principle of the future CAP, not only in terms of legislation but also in the field of implementation and controls.
The European Commission has announced the establishment of the EU Animal Welfare Platform, which is due to be launched in June 2017. It intends initially to concentrate its activities on the implementation of legislation on animal welfare. Animal welfare, the international promotion of European standards, and the commercial potential of animal-friendly production chains.
Minister Etgen thanked the commissioner for finally agreeing to set up this platform on animal welfare because he had on several occasions expressed his support for this initiative during the the previous year. The minister affirmed Luxembourg’s commitment to actively working on the platform and hopes that it will be able to propose concrete solutions to improve the welfare of animals in the EU.
He also confirmed that Luxembourg is currently engaged in the adoption of an ambitious new law on the protection of animals.
Image: Minister Etgen, Mike Hentges, adjunct permanent representative of Luxembourg to the EU. © MAVPC
