In the key debate on the role of farmers, ECR Co-Chairman Nicola Procaccini pointed out the important role that farmers play in our societies.

In light of their vital function, the EU should aim for an increasingly sustainable agricultural system, not only in environmental terms, but also in social and economic terms. On the one hand, the EU should not impose ever more restrictive requirements on agricultural production and management and, on the other hand, farmers should be protected from unfair competition from countries outside the European Union which do not have to comply with the same environmental, health and social standards, Mr Procaccini stressed.

Mr Procaccini’s speech reads in full:

“What is happening in different parts of Europe reminds us how farmers are constantly called upon to face the challenges of climate change: droughts, floods, soil degradation - to name but a few. These challenges threaten not only their family incomes, but also the food security of the entire continent.

So while it is right to promote the sustainable development of our agriculture, we must also avoid stifling production with bureaucratic obligations and economic burdens that are unsustainable for our farmers, especially if they are not protected from unfair competition from those outside the European Union who are not required to meet the same environmental, health and social standards.

With the rules and regulations that are adopted, but above all with the economic resources that are allocated here, we must strengthen the professions of farmers and breeders, because it is they who guarantee us high-quality local products that are deeply rooted in the culture and diet of us Europeans.

It is therefore important not to jeopardise their vitality and resilience in the name of false environmentalist ideologies, such as replacing the meat on which humanity has fed for thousands of years with artificial meat produced in laboratories. Or as with the marketing of worm meal, among other things, commissioned by the Commission.”