On Thursday morning, Tero Hemmilä, incoming President of MTK, and Mats Nylund, current President of SLC, also met with Prime Minister of Finland Petteri Orpo, conveying MTK’s and SLC’s key messages from the farmers’ demonstration in Brussels. Later the same day, the Presidents also met with Agriculture Commissioner Hansen and Environment Commissioner Roswall.

The demonstration sent a strong message to EU decision-makers at a crucial moment for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the future Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), coinciding with the EU summit. The organizations stress that the EU’s financial framework must support investment certainty, a well-functioning internal market, food security and farmers’ livelihoods. MTK also highlights the importance of fair and transparent trade policy, the protection of EU standards, and genuine legislative simplification so that changes deliver tangible benefits at farm level.

As examples, Hanna Leiponen-Syyrakki, Director of MTK’s Brussels Office, points to the Nature Restoration Regulation, the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and the carbon border adjustment mechanism for fertilizers (CBAM). In addition, special attention must be paid to the challenges facing the EU’s eastern external border and their impact on the vitality of rural areas.

MTK’s and SLC’s three main demands at the demonstration were:

• Secured and sufficient funding for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Agriculture needs long-term and predictable financial frameworks. Without adequate funding, food security, agricultural investments and the future of the sector are at risk.
• Simplification of bureaucracy. Regulation has become increasingly complex and time-consuming. Less administrative burden and more trust in farmers’ knowledge and expertise are needed, so that time can be focused on what truly matters: food production and the development of farming practices.
• Improving competitiveness and ensuring a fair operating environment. It is essential that products entering the EU comply with the same rules and standards as those produced within Europe. Trade policy must ensure a level playing field and protect European production.

The farmers’ message was clear: the agricultural sector needs predictability, well-functioning internal markets and practically workable solutions and not additional administrative burden.

In Brussels, decisions crucial to the future of agriculture were at stake.

Read more about MTK’s and SLC´s key messages in Brussels

For more information contact: 

Hanna Leiponen-Syyrakki

Director, Brussels Office

+358 40 094 7633

+32 47 650 2704