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DRAFT REPORT (2026/2011(INI))

On strengthening competitiveness, resilience and fairness in EU agriculture

AGRI-PR-789916

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development · Rapporteur: Marko Vešligaj

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This is a draft report by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development on strengthening competitiveness, resilience and fairness in EU agriculture. It calls for a strong, inflation-aware CAP budget, fair incomes for farmers, action on land access, water, crisis tools and generational renewal. It asks the Commission to align trade agreements with EU sanitary, social, environmental and animal welfare standards, and to reduce dependency on external suppliers for fertilisers and other key raw materials. It seeks stronger positions for farmers in food supply chains through market monitoring, traceability, transparency in price formation and support for producer organisations and cooperatives. It calls for decent working conditions, fair wages, social protection and social conditionality for farm workers, and for CAP support to prioritise small and medium-sized farms, young and new farmers and rural areas.

Committee position. The rapporteur proposes a resolution calling for a robust, inflation-indexed CAP budget, prioritised support for small and medium-sized farms, administrative simplification, stricter enforcement against unfair trading practices, balanced trade with mirror clauses, and targeted financing for young farmers, women entrepreneurs and smallholders.

Key points

  1. Stresses that EU agriculture must pursue competitiveness, sustainability, resilience and fairness at the same time.
  2. Regrets the proposed CAP budget reduction within the 2028-2034 MFF and the single fund approach.
  3. Calls for CAP support to reflect inflationary pressures and sectoral specificities, and for measures on rising production costs including short-term financial support and long-term domestic production capacity.
  4. Calls on the Commission to align all trade agreements with EU sanitary and phytosanitary, social, environmental and animal welfare standards to prevent unfair competition.
  5. Urges the Commission to strengthen food security and strategic autonomy through sector-specific support, a European preference and reduced dependency on external suppliers for key raw materials such as fertilisers.
  6. Calls on the Commission and member states to address barriers to land access and use, including high land prices, land fragmentation and succession challenges.
  7. Calls for financed and inclusive modernisation and digitalisation, strengthened advisory services, training and knowledge-sharing, and stronger investment in local and regional processing and storage capacity.
  8. Calls for increased support for rural areas and LEADER, stronger involvement of local and regional authorities and the application of 'rural proofing'.
  9. Stresses the importance of strengthening crisis management instruments, including a reinforced crisis reserve and expanded risk management tools.
  10. Calls for investments in irrigation, water storage, improved water efficiency and climate adaptation measures.
  11. Stresses that environmental sustainability and biodiversity are preconditions for resilience and calls for increased support for incentives for sustainable and agroecological practices.
  12. Calls for stronger support for producer organisations, cooperatives and collective action, and for fair and inclusive agricultural transition with decent working conditions, fair wages, labour rights and social protection.

Who is affected

  • EU farmers, especially small and medium-sized farms, young and new farmers, and those in rural areas, who would receive prioritised CAP support.
  • Agricultural workers, who would gain from strengthened social conditionality, fair wages, labour rights and access to social protection.
  • Producer organisations and cooperatives, which would receive stronger support to improve farmers' bargaining power.
  • The Commission, which is asked to align trade agreements with EU standards and to mainstream generational renewal and gender equality.
  • Member states, which are called on to address barriers to land access and use.

Figures and deadlines

  • EUR 62 billion: farmers' unmet demands for financing from banks in 2022.
  • 62 % above their 2020 levels: fertiliser costs for EU farmers in the last quarter of 2025.
  • EUR 650 billion: cumulative economic losses in the EU from climate-related risks and natural disasters between 1980 and 2022.
  • 57: average age of farmers in the EU in 2020.
  • 12 %: share of farmers under the age of 40 in 2020.
  • 2.5 %: share of women among farmers under the age of 40 in 2020.
  • Approximately 5.6 million farms disappeared between 2005 and 2023.

Legal basis: Articles 13, 38, 39, 40, 42 and 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.