As a disastrous summer of droughts and wildfires turns into fall, some countries are grabbing the opportunity to convince counterparts to keep spending billions on farmers in the EU’s next long-term budget.
While some nations have called for reducing spending on “traditional” topics like cohesion and agriculture, ministers like Fernandes argue it’s not just about paying farmers, but adapting the food system and the countryside to more extreme weather.
“A lot of people don’t know that 42% of the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) is for environmental objectives,” said Fernandes. “The best friends of the environment are the farmers.”
The summer of drought
It’s not just Portugal.
As European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen drafts her big State of the Union speech for Wednesday, setting out her priorities for the next year, the agriculture commissioner has said he hopes she’ll announce some action to prepare farms against future droughts.
“We need to do more,” said Agriculture and Food Commissioner Christophe Hansen, including making sure there’s enough water to put out wildfires and to irrigate the fields in dry times.