Minister Romain Schneider in videoconference;
Credit: © Mario Salerno
Luxembourg's Ministry of Agriculture, Viticulture and Rural Development has confirmed that its minister, Romain Schneider, participated today by videoconference in an informal meeting of EU agriculture ministers.
The new Portuguese Presidency chaired by Maria do Céu Antunes and Ricardo Serrão Santos, Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries, presented its work programme. Among their objectives are the completion of the reform of agricultural policy, reacting to the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic and the United Kingdom's exit from the EU (Brexit), the implementation of the green pact in food security, animal health and welfare, and drive innovation for the resilience and sustainability of the agricultural sector.
During an exchange of views on trade and agricultural agreements with third countries, Minister Schneider pleaded for "fair and balanced agreements, which do not disadvantage European producers, and which respect the criteria for sustainable development of the Paris and of the Green Pact”.
All current and future trade negotiations have considerable economic consequences for the European agricultural sector. Their effects have been analysed by the very recent study by the Union's Joint Research Centre and the European Commission. Faced with the importance of this study, Minister Schneider asked for more adequate time for analysis within the Board.
Ministers then discussed the state of play of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Romain Schneider recalled Luxembourg's priorities: "The new agricultural policy will have to respect the principles of subsidiarity, an approach based on identified needs and an approach based on the performance model. In addition, the CAP must also be simplified, starting with its basic texts."
Finally, the ministers discussed the crisis in the European pig sector, which is very worrying in the eyes of the Minister Schneider who underlined that in the Grand Duchy, "analyses and discussions are currently underway in order to assess in what form and according to what criteria and modalities, we can best support this struggling sector". At the same time, Minister Schneider also called for an analysis of the situation and development prospects for the pork sector at European level, and for concerted assistance on the scale of the gravity of the situation.
