The European Commission today proposed 300,000 euros for young farmers to start their activity and a reinforcement of credit lines through the intervention of the European Investment Bank (EIB).
According to the proposal presented today by the European community executive, the Commission wants a “starter package” (so called in the document presented), for young people who want to invest in agriculture, endowed with 300,000 euros, and which will be included in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the set of community rules to prevent imbalances in agricultural production and trade.
Ursula von der Leyen’s executive also wants there to be more money available for young farmers to access and for the EIB to join this European Union (EU) effort with favorable credit lines that encourage investment.
At the same time, the European Commission wants to create an observatory, an entity with the responsibility of supervising transparency in agricultural production and land acquisition.
“This will help farmers have access to available land, support the succession of farmers, provide information on legislation, prevent speculation and facilitate the entry of newcomers into agriculture”, stated the European Commission in the documentation made available.
Among the measures presented in the proposal, the European community executive wants to create “agricultural relief services”, that is, a “pool” of workers to “replace farmers when they are sick, on vacation or caring for family members, to improve the balance between work and personal life”.
These measures are part of a legislative package that aims to ensure the generational succession of farmers and attract young people to this sector.
According to the European Commission, the average age of farmers in the European Union is 57 years old and only 12% of the total in the 27 countries of the political-economic bloc are under 40 years old, therefore being considered young farmers.
“This imbalance represents a risk for long-term food security, for the European Union’s strategic autonomy in food production and for the sustainability of European agricultural landscapes”, warns Brussels.