The next small showdown for the EU agricultural billions is approaching on Friday afternoon in Brussels.
Greta Thunberg draws hope thanks to the SPD - but a Green has a damper ready.
Brussels / Berlin
- For a very, very long time, the EU has been wrestling with a new plan for the
multi-billion dollar agricultural subsidies
.
A compromise is now on the table.
The farmers and
minister Julia Klöckner
are satisfied,
but
environmentalists
are appalled.
The WWF, for example, spoke of a “disaster for nature and climate protection”.
A position on reform is to be voted on in the European Parliament on Friday.
Greta Thunberg electrified: SPD announces resistance to EU plans
But does everything turn out differently?
The
SPD in the European Parliament
surprisingly announced its opposition to the package late on Thursday evening.
"Our red lines were almost all torn," said Deputy
Speaker of Parliament Katarina Barley
on Friday on Twitter.
In a post by the party it says: "We are voting against." Among others,
climate protection icon Greta Thunberg *
reacted almost electrified.
This shows the #FutureOfCAP has not yet been lost!
No arguments left in favor apart from commercial lobby interests.
Keep pushing and hold the MEPs accountable.
Keep fighting for biodiversity, climate and the future!
#VoteThisCAPdown https://t.co/8S7TLJUCeR
- Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) October 23, 2020
"This shows that the future of the common agricultural policy is not yet lost," she wrote on Friday.
There are no more arguments for the decision - apart from the
interests of the lobby
.
She called on the activists to fight.
However, the
Green *
European politician Sven Giegold
saw the situation very differently
.
Grüner has a damper for Greta Thunberg: SPD announcement only “unbelievable theater”?
Giegold spoke of an “unbelievable theater” by the Social Democrats.
The SPD - with the
Bavarian MP Maria Noichl
- not only managed the negotiations of their parliamentary group, but also made bad compromises.
At the same time, the majority of the
social democratic S&D
in the European Parliament had not been convinced - nor was a majority in prospect against the current agricultural plans.
The Greens' cool conclusion: "Symbolic politics without effect".
(2/2):
4. Suddenly she wants in the final today against the reform vote in
the fifth but does not convince the majority of her group to vote against
6. The Parliament majority is for the reform further, the U-turn of the SPD: Symbol policy without effect # VoteThisCAPdown
- Sven Giegold (@sven_giegold) October 23, 2020
The European Parliament has been voting on the
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
for the coming years
since Tuesday
- a result is expected around 5 p.m.
After the vote on Friday afternoon, the final position should then
go
into
negotiations with the EU countries
.
Noichl had
negotiated
large parts of the current position with the
Christian Democratic and Liberal factions
.
However, she now declared: "We fought for an ambitious European agricultural policy until the last minute." But: "Our red line to tie agricultural policy to the European Green Deal was torn."
EU agricultural billions: compromise after marathon meeting - economist speaks of "bitter disappointment"
The
EU agriculture ministers
had agreed in marathon negotiations on a reform of the common agricultural policy.
It should take greater account of the protection of the environment and the climate.
Federal Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner
(CDU) spoke of a "milestone".
But she also admitted that it was a compromise.
“Before we couldn't reach an agreement, we built a bridge,” she said.
Each country is
to link
a minimum share of
20 percent of EU direct payments
to the participation of farmers in environmental programs.
Farms receive additional funds if they go beyond the basic climate and environmental requirements of the EU - for example with flower strips or wet meadows.
A two-year “learning phase” is planned, during which the funds reserved for environmental programs can also be accessed differently.
Noichl had also called it “bottomless cheek”, as
Merkur.de
* reported.
The economist Friedrich Heinemann from the
Leibniz Center for European Economic Research
called the compromise a “bitter disappointment”.
Billions of euros would continue to be transferred to often
wealthy farmers and agricultural companies
without having to provide significantly higher services for the benefit of the climate, the environment and animal welfare.
The details of the eco-regulations would be left to the member states - "this will lead to a race to the bottom of the eco-requirements".
(
fn / dpa / AFP
) *
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.