According to MV Agriculture Minister Till Backhaus, the eastern German states want to work more closely together to achieve their agricultural goals. "We will closely coordinate our communication with Brussels and Berlin in future," the SPD politician announced on the fringes of Green Week in Berlin following a meeting with his eastern German counterparts and the heads of the eastern German farmers' associations.
The states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia have therefore jointly drawn up a position paper on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in the EU from 2028. According to Backhaus, it will be sent to Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen shortly. The paper has the approval of the eastern German farmers' associations.
Bureaucracy: administration also at breaking point
According to Backhaus, the eastern states have ten demands, including an increase in the budget. In addition, the two pillars of income support and payment for environmental services should be strictly separated.
Small farms should not be given preferential treatment when it comes to agricultural support, it continues. "Undesirable developments caused by the entry of non-agricultural investors into the land market cannot be solved via the CAP," said Backhaus. In eastern Germany, large farms are traditionally strongly represented in terms of land area.
In addition, the eastern agriculture ministers are calling for a significant reduction in bureaucracy, as the head of department from Schwerin went on to say. It is not only agriculture that is reaching its limits, but also the administration.
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