Among the first of the new crop of Commissioners to seal Parliament’s approval, Luxembourg’s Christophe Hansen had plenty to say during his three-and-a-half hour grilling in the European Parliament.
And the majority of MEPs – including his own political family, the centre-right EPP, along with hard-right ECR, plus the Socialists, Greens, and Renew – clearly liked what they heard. So much so that the Commissioner easily won their vote to head up the Commission’s agrifood work for the new five-year political cycle.
What will Hansen be getting his hands into?
The first thing to say is that this Commissioner clearly seemed not only competent talking around agrifood issues, but also personally invested in the sector, being quick to remind everyone of his farming roots growing up on a family farm on the border of Belgium and Luxembourg.
Yet he clearly has his comfort zones, stronger on trade and on the farm side of things but weaker on the ‘fork’ side of the food chain, as well as rural issues in general.
He’s also already come under fire for a lack of substance on climate and nature issues, with his multiple mentions of the recent devastation in Spain resoundingly empty with no concrete policy follow-up.
On the farm side, Hansen concentrated on fair pricing for farmers, a strong CAP budget, and the need to support generational renewal in farming.
He’s pro-trade – and pro-Mercosur – but with the caveat that he is in favour of strengthening reciprocity clauses in trade deals.
He wants more streamlined labelling to help consumers, stronger enforcement of unfair trading practices and more plant-based protein production in the EU.
CAP
Let’s start right at the juicy heart of EU agrifood policy – the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy.
The newly-appointed Commissioner was clear that he backed a strong CAP budget, arguing the need for a budget that strikes the right balance of income support and incentives.
While he skirted deeper questions about the reform of the EU budget and what that could mean (see here for more details), Hansen was clear that the CAP needs its own dedicated budget. “I do not have the crystal ball but we need to put pressure on our national governments if we want a strong CAP that is not amputated from several parts,” he said.
Among the more notable moments includes his support for further redistribution of CAP funding to small farmers, as well as a need to discuss mandatory capping of payments, arguing the need for a “re-shifting and a redirection” of CAP funding to make sure it goes to “active farmers and those most in need”. External convergence will also be “high on the agenda,” he said. However, he stopped short of backing a re-think on area-based payments.
Meanwhile, simplification and streamlining is clearly still the name of the game for the new Commissioner – so much so that he opened his remarks talking of his memories of his father and, after him, his brother struggling with paperwork when “all they wanted to do was farm and care for their animals”.
As such he promised to build on the work already done by the Commission in the Spring, suggesting the use of a benchmarking tool – such as that proposed in the Strategic Dialogue on Agriculture (more on that here) – or even lump sum payments to help cut paper corners.
Show me the money
Hansen also gave some clues about where he sees fresh funding sources in the future outside the CAP.
For Hansen, this includes a strong focus on “public and private investment to finance and de-risk the sustainability transition”, including, for example, European Investment Bank funds to help “unlock and de-risk private capital”.
However, the Commissioner was clear that an agri-style Emissions Trading System – an idea which has been floating around Brussels and mentioned by President von der Leyen several times herself – is not on his cards. “I believe that an ETS for agriculture is not the way forward,” he said, arguing that he did not see a way to make this work. He did mention that he would take a look at both Denmark and New Zealand – both countries who have either implemented or tried to implement carbon pricing – to see if it could help steer what to do (or not do).
Meanwhile, the Commissioner was cagey on the idea floated in the Strategic Dialogue of a kind of agricultural just transition fund, saying that it was best to maximise the resources we currently have rather than “promis[ing] things that sound good but not achievable in the long term”.
He also spoke on the need to support farmers in finding alternative income sources, citing agroforestry and the bioeconomy sector as part of the “solution for rural areas to get quality jobs in the area” and generate added value from their produce. “We must draw on all sources [of] income from the markets, public income support, investments and alternative sources of funding,” he said, adding a pledge to “defend an income policy for Europe’s farmers”.
“It is crucial that our farmers should not be forced to systematically sell their products below the production costs. We need to beef up their bargaining position,” he said.
Trade
Hansen was clearly comfortable navigating trade issues – unsurprising, considering his experience as a former member of the Parliament’s international trade committee (INTA).
But his pro-Mercosur stance was where he came closest to coming unstuck. Despite packaging up his support in the need for “reciprocity” and stronger alignment to the EU’s environmental rules, many of those in the room remained thoroughly unconvinced.
He did, though, promise to look into mirror measures and find a workaround from WTO rules to ensure that EU farmers are not compromised in trade deals, citing the EU’s deforestation law as an example of ways this could work to ensure “proper reciprocity of production methods”.
“We have to make sure in all trade agreements in general that products that are [also] produced in the EU respect a certain level of similarity. So reciprocity will be key and that is something we have to further strengthen,” he said.
Food
Amid criticisms that he appeared ‘more farm than fork’ in the run-up to his hearing, Hansen made sure to explicitly address the “latter part” of his future job title in his opening remark.
Arguing the need for a “holistic approach to transform our food systems and make them resilient for the future,” the Commissioner said this includes rethinking the way food is processed, sold and consumed.
Although this side of the food chain admittedly played a smaller part in his 3+ hour hearing, there were a few moments of note. This includes more support for plant-based proteins, which the EU is “heavily under-producing”.
Policy-wise, the Commissioner promised an update in the EU’s protein strategy, as well a new sustainable livestock strategy with an emphasis on reducing reliance on imported feed. He was careful to insist nothing should be “imposed top down” when it comes to reducing red meat.
The new agri Commissioner also called for “more coherence” on food labels, saying this is not only in the interest of consumers, but would also help companies. “The consumer needs to get better information and it should not be confused with the false allegations,” he said, pointing to voluntary labelling schemes that are “not harmonised” and can “confuse” customers. He therefore called for a “streamlining exercise” on labelling – although he admitted this was slightly out of his remit as agriculture Commissioner.
Rural areas
Talking on the need to ensure rural areas are vibrant and attractive, the Commissioner stressed that the problem is not only that rural companies and enterprises are “not viable”, but that “simple needs and opportunities are not there in the rural areas”. He suggested better use of the second pillar of the CAP, together with EU Cohesion Funds, to help make rural areas more lively.
He admitted that he didn’t know as much about the EU’s outermost areas, but promised to get on the ground to understand the specific issues facing rural areas and rather than just being “sat in his office in Brussels”.
What next
With the backing of MEPs, Hansen can now focus on his first big job as Commissioner – producing the EU’s new ‘Vision for Agriculture and Food’, which he described as a “shared roadmap for future initiatives” reflecting the diverse perspectives across the agri-food sector. This is promised within the first 100 days of taking office.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Hansen promised to follow up on the strategic dialogue’s recommendations, including the creation of the new European Board on Agri Food, which he promised to “establish and convene” in close cooperation with the European Parliament. He also committed to work closely with “all fellow commissioners who are part of the food system cluster”.
More
An Agrifood Stakeholder’s Guide to the EU’s New Power Structure
The EU is Mulling a Seismic Budgetary Shift – What Would This Mean for Agri and Rural Areas?
Re-CAP: Breaking down the breakdown of the EU’s green farming measures
CAP not Matching Europe’s Green Ambitions, say Auditors (again)
Brussels News Roundup – Ombudsman Launches Inquiry into CAP Fast-Track
Strategic Dialogue on Agriculture – what’s in it, what’s next?
