EU Commissioner Phil Hogan with EU Commission representative Barbara Nolan
Above AEJ Chairman Richard Moore welcomes EU Commissioner Phil Hogan. AEJ members listening to the Commissioner’s speech.
Speech by EU Commissioner Phil Hogan, Dublin, 6th March, 2015.
As a strategic sector, agriculture is well placed to make a central contribution to the new economic agenda.
Can I point out to the Association a few key numbers:
There are 25 million farmers: rural areas are 50% of EU territory;
agri-food sector = 7% of employment and 3.5% of EU value added;
rural regions = 20.6% (46.1 million) of EU jobs
In the context of growing world food demand, the agri-food sector is the 4th largest export sector in EU: it increased the value of its exports by 70% in the last 5 years (faster than overall EU exports)
There are important upstream/downstream linkages with other sectors (from the fertilisers to the R and D sectors), not to mention the key role it plays in the economic development of rural areas.
The implementation of the new CAP offers a good opportunity to maximise the contribution to growth and jobs agenda:
Increased market orientation encouraging the modernisation of the sector.
The new Rural Development Policy will be a key driver to encourage investments in rural areas and support business start-ups and innovation projects.
With the boost to agricultural research, European farmers will have better access to knowledge to increase productivity.
In order to make the most of the potential of the agricultural sector in terms of growth, jobs and investments, the European Commission is currently also working to improve access to finance for farmers, particularly young farmers, as they start their career in agriculture. We are working on this in close cooperation with the European Investment Bank.