Dear Minister,
Dear President of the German Farmers Association,
Dear farmers, dear partners,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good afternoon, and first of all, let me wish you a very happy new year.
Its a pleasure to be here – at the New Years Reception – again, the second time in my mandate.
For me, this is a place of dialogue between farmers, consumers, policymakers and industry.
It is a also moment to take stock — and to look ahead.
This moment also matters for me personally. I have now completed one year in office.
From the beginning, I was convinced of one thing: agriculture cannot be governed from Brussels alone.
That is why I visited all 27 Member States, including many regions here in Germany.
I listened to farmers, cooperatives, processors and rural communities.
And across Europe, I heard different realities — but one common message:
We need predictability.
We need investment security.
And we need to be able to pass our farms on.
This is exactly why the Common Agricultural Policy matters.
The CAP is not only our longest-standing common policy.
It is the backbone of Europes agricultural model.
In the future CAP, farmers income support is safeguarded and guaranteed.
In addition to the minimum €300 billion ring-fenced for farmers in the next budget, we proposed to dedicate at least 10% of resources of each National and Regional partnership Plan to rural development.
This represents close to €49 billion as minimum and could go up as high as €63 billion.
And let me stress again that Member States can always allocate even more money from the Partnership Plan.
Last week, we also proposed to Member States to mobilise an additional €45 billion to support farmers and rural communities. This would be additional money coming towards agriculture and farmers.
Lets also not forget that the agri-food sector will also benefit from the European Competitiveness Fund and the Research programme with €40 billion dedicated to biotech, bioeconomy, health and agriculture.
On a farm, competitiveness is not abstract. It is very concrete: can you invest, can you adapt, can you survive?
German farmers know this reality well, facing high input costs, volatile markets and strong competitive pressure, especially in livestock and export-oriented sectors.
This is where Elisabeth Hidéns story brings reality into focus.
Elisabeth is a 29-year-old agronomist and dairy farmer from southern Sweden.
She manages a family farm with around 450 animals, producing more than 2 million litres of milk per year.
Her competitiveness is built on constant investment — in feed efficiency, soil analysis, digital tools and biogas.
Competitiveness needs scale, stability and predictability. This is the added value of Europe.
Competitiveness without fairness is fragile.
An agricultural sector that excludes talent — especially women — weakens itself.
This is where Marie-Claire Fellers story matters.
Marie-Claire is a young woman farmer and agroecology practitioner in Sweden.
Without inheriting land, she created Alnarp Agroecology Farm, a half-hectare living laboratory that feeds local families, produces applied research and reconnects citizens with food production.
Her story shows what happens when barriers are lowered, and access is enabled.
It also reminds us of a simple truth: competitiveness is not gender neutral.
The data are clear:
- women represent around 40% of the global agricultural workforce,
- even on farms of equal size, productivity gaps reach 24%,
- women still face barriers to finance, land and leadership.
This is not only unfair — it is economically inefficient.
That is why the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026, launched by FAO in December, is more than symbolic.
It is a political reminder.
At European level, we act:
- women farmers are explicitly integrated into future CAP support,
- agricultural relief services will support leave for illness or childbirth,
- and we will launch a platform for Women in Agriculture to exchange best practices on finance, training and leadership.
Fairness is not a side issue. It is a precondition for generational renewal.
Because entry into farming remains fragile. Land. Machinery. Buildings. Capital.
And when income is volatile, access to finance is uncertain.
The most fundamental sustainability question is simple, and it is urgent:
Who will farm tomorrow?
Without generational renewal, there is no sustainable agriculture — not economically, not socially, and not environmentally.
Because sustainability is not only about how we farm.
It is also about whether farming continues at all.
This is where Katharina Schobersbergers story matters.
Katharina is 27 years old.
She works in rural education in Vienna, remains actively involved on her family farm in Upper Austria, representing young farmers at European level.
She embodies a generation that combines tradition with innovation.
Local roots with a European outlook.
Environmental ambition with economic realism.
And this is not just rhetoric.
Generational renewal cannot be designed behind desks. It must be built with young people, not merely for them.
This is precisely why the Commission adopted the EU Strategy for Generational Renewal.
But sustainability also means giving young farmers the confidence to invest.
Under the future CAP, we will continue to provide predictable income support, simplified investment instruments, and stronger links to research and innovation.
Because young farmers will not take over farms if they cannot modernise them.
They will not invest if rules are unstable.
And they will not stay if rural areas lack services, infrastructure and opportunities.
Sustainable agriculture therefore means farms that are passed on, not closed down.
It means rural areas that remain alive, not hollowed out.
And it means policies that look beyond the next season — to the next generation.
Let me conclude by coming back to why we are here today.
When I think about the future of European agriculture, I think of these three talents I just presented:
- Marie-Claire, who shows how young women can reinvent farming when given trust and space;
- Elisabeth, who proves that competitiveness and sustainability go hand in hand;
- Katharina, who represents a generation ready to lead — on farms and in European debates.
Three different paths.
One shared vision for Europe.
A Europe where farming remains a viable profession.
Where women and young people can enter, stay and lead.
Where food security is understood as a pillar of our economic security.
This is the Commissions vision for the future CAP.
Because Europe does not work until it works for those who feed it.
Thank you.