Honourable Members, dear colleagues,

Recently, we discussed the priorities you consider important for the Vision. Now, the Vision is already adopted. Last week, I addressed the Plenary, and today I look forward to an in-depth exchange with you.

The first 100 days of our mandate were dedicated to delivering on our promises!

This can only happen through dialogue with those most concerned – the farmers and the agri-food sector. I am keeping my promise to visit all Member States this year. By summer, I will have visited more than half. This is crucial to capture the sentiment on the ground.

The Vision addresses the key demands of the farming sector: fair income, less bureaucracy, and more reciprocity!

The Vision is the Commissions policy roadmap. It outlines key priorities and how we will achieve them. Fostering dialogue remains key to any initiative. No more top-down approaches. Our farming sector is diverse, situations differ between regions and member States, which is why territorial and tailored approaches are emphasized in the Vision.

The Vision gives recognition to the farming, fishing, and food sectors as they deserve. European food sovereignty is an integral part of the EUs security agenda.

Despite many challenges, farmers, fishers, and the food industry are part of the solution for a future-proof agri-food sector. We will design these solutions pragmatically and in consultation with them.

Lets quickly go through the key pillars of the Vision.

To provide direction and stability, there are four priority areas in the Vision. Under each, the Vision identifies concrete policy responses focusing on all three dimensions of sustainability:

First, an attractive and predictable agri-food sector requires:

- Fair remuneration from the markets for farmers, a strong CAP that will continue supporting farmers, and also new income opportunities arising from innovation.

- Farmers must get a better return from the market. We will work to address the principle that farmers should not be forced to systematically sell their products below production costs. The UTP review that will come will be instrumental to achieving this.

- Public support from the CAP remains essential to support farmers income. In her political guidelines, President von der Leyen clearly acknowledges the need for an EU income policy for Europes farmers. Strategic dialogue calls for a dedicated and commensurate budget. These are my guiding principles for the discussions on MFF that are about to come.   

- We will also help the sector leverage new income opportunities, such as from the bioeconomy or carbon farming and nature credits.

- Furthermore, in 2025 I will present a Strategy for Generational Renewal that will give recommendations on how to attract young and new farmers.

Secondly, to enable our farmers to be competitive and resilient:

They demand and deserve fair global competition. We put this at the heart of the Vision. We will move from words to action. This year we will start the work to better align our domestic production standards with those applied to imports, notably for pesticides and animal welfare.

I am firm on this. Hazardous pesticides banned in the EU should not be allowed back into the EU via imports. Similarly, any standards applied to our farmers on animal welfare need to apply to imports too.

Europes agricultural sector is strong, but we must recognize that the EUs food sovereignty depends to an extent on imported inputs, such as fertilizers, feed, and energy

Actions to reduce these strategic dependencies and de-risk supply chains are therefore crucial.

The agri-food sector is strongly impacted by different crises. We will develop a more comprehensive approach to risk and crisis management, reinforce incentives for farmers to boost farm-level adaptation and improve access to affordable insurance and de-risking tools for primary producers.

Lastly, I want to deliver two simplification packages in 2025 to reduce the administrative burden for farmers and the entire agri-food value chain: the first focused on the CAP very soon, the second looking at other EU legislation impacting farming. Your engagement in the review and timely adoption of those legislative changes to help farmers focus on the core of their activities with less red tape will be key.

Another important initiative is also the work we will do on livestock. The Vision clearly passes a message that livestock remains an essential element of EU agriculture. We will work on making it more competitive, resilient, and sustainable.

Thirdly, to ensure a future for our agri-food sector, we must continue preserving healthy soils, clean water and air, and the EUs biodiversity.

To support this, we must first properly implement and enforce the legislation that we already have.

In the future, we must move from the regulatory approach to also creating better incentives for farmers and agri-food actors who are delivering ecosystem services and make sure that climate and biodiversity action go hand in hand with competitiveness.

A more advanced toolbox under the CAP, a voluntary On-Farm Sustainability Compass, certified carbon farming and measures to accelerate access of biopesticides to the EU market will be crucial drivers of this.

For this reason, also, the Commission is working on a water resilience strategy to address water scarcity, enhance water retention, and reduce water waste.

Also, I continue to hear the question “Is this vision the end of the Farm to Fork Strategy?”, do we stick to the Green Deal?

The answer is that we must do things differently. Bottom-up, tailored, and territorial. And that applies certainly to the environmental dimension of agricultural policies.

Lastly, strengthening the link between food and consumers and promoting fair living and working conditions in vibrant and well-connected coastal and rural areas, will be crucial. Food security is more than just supply. Affordability of food, access to food through a favorable food environment, the rich culture of food in Europe.

Here the Vision identifies where Union action has added value. National authorities continue to play a key role in shaping food environments, but we can help through our school scheme, public procurement, origin labeling, organics action plan, promotion, and more.

This is not the end of the journey. It is only the beginning.

The roadmap is here and now we must quickly put it into action. I will make sure that we deliver what we promised.

The first sets of proposals are coming out in the next few weeks. We will start with the wine package, followed immediately by the simplification proposal. Of course, Generational Renewal and the future CAP are the next key initiatives to be coming your way.

We will soon give you a more concrete timeline and a plan on how we will launch different work strands and other initiatives.

We will work closely with all parties involved, and in particular with you in this House.

I believe you will share my view that this vision is optimistic about the strength and potential of the European agriculture and food system.

Lets continue to work together and build trust and dialogue. Dialogue is essential.