Debate contributions by Alexander BERNHUBER

Dear Mr. Colleague! We have an agricultural commissioner here who has really put forward a lot of facilitations for agriculture in recent months. Her former party colleague Janusz Wojciechowski has been agricultural commissioner for the past five years. You now have 30 seconds. Tell me what five initiatives he has taken for agriculture in recent years. I haven't seen much. We now have to repair a lot from the last period, which unfortunately has not been tackled by your former colleague.

Madam President, Commissioner! I am glad that tomorrow we will finally be voting on facilitation in the common agricultural policy. What threatens us in the coming years, however, is more than worrying, and the proposal for the common agricultural policy is for many colleagues rather a beginning of the end of the common agricultural policy. There is a risk of fewer payments for our farmers, who absolutely do not cover high inflation, rising production costs and simply compensate for the loss of income here. Both the budget and the proposal for the next common agricultural policy really need to be urgently reconsidered and revised. We need a further development of the current model, which also has a reasonable budget, where really inflation and just these rising production costs are finally taken into account. Because our farmers do not want alms, they want fair conditions to produce, they want framework conditions in agricultural policy that enable them to do so. Just let our farmers work – they are the specialists in producing the best food. Let's let them do that.

Dear Mr President, dear Commissioner! The past five years have been rather five lean years for agriculture: a Commissioner with little interest in agriculture, legislation that has focused more on set-aside and depletion than on food security, and political majorities in the European Parliament that have absolutely not represented the interests of our farmers. I am all the more looking forward to the next five years with you, Commissioner. Your vision is a first important step: Less bureaucracy at our farms, a level playing field when it comes to food imports and a clear commitment to security of supply are right, important steps. But now it is important to really achieve something from this vision in the practical implementation. We still have a lot on the table that means more bureaucracy: I am convinced that the Industrial Emissions Directive, the Deforestation Regulation and, and, where we need to find solutions here and, at the same time, take concrete new steps, we can count on you to do so; You can count on our support. Let's work on it together!

Dear Mr. Colleague! Just a quick reminder: There is a National Council resolution in Austria stating that Austria wants to campaign against Mercosur. They speak for fair conditions for our farmers. Your State Councillor in Styria says: We no longer want animal exports to third countries. Your FPÖ State Councillor in Lower Austria says: We need more veterinarians to control our farmers. Your colleagues here in the European Parliament have voted against stricter or not in favour of stricter origin labelling for honey. Then where is your commitment to farmers, besides throwing big words? Convince your colleagues at home!

Perhaps I would like to give some tutoring in agriculture and livestock farming, because you say yes, agriculture benefits. But agriculture is very versatile, and a farmer who may have just built a stable can't plant wine and now sell wine in Mercosur countries. So, one has to look closely at which agricultural sectors are disadvantaged by this trade agreement. I do not understand why agriculture has not simply been excluded from this agreement – where it is well known that this is the critical sector, there are the biggest concerns.

Madam President, I think a lot has been debated and we really need to focus on the headline: How is money used, which is actually for nature conservation, environmental protection and should not be used for lobbying against MEPs? It is important that – and it has never been criticised that funds should be cancelled here, but only the way they are used – there should be transparency, that what is in the Treaties should be disclosed. I am a farmer myself. Yes, I receive public money from the European Union. Every dollar I get can be seen. And then NGOs get hundreds of thousands of euros, have a total budget of 40 million euros, and you can't see at all where the other 40 million euros are from, let alone what exactly happens to those 700,000 euros, how they are used for lobbying against MPs. That has to change, and that is exactly what this debate is for, and it is also important that there are essential steps now.

So you think it is safe that millions of taxpayers' money, which is actually earmarked for nature conservation on the ground, is used to pay salaries of any people here in Brussels, who then lobby against us MPs, who send mass mails, who do any demonstrations, instead of really using LIFE funds to renaturalize rivers and plant trees? We criticize the influence of parliamentarians.

You also talk a lot about fair incomes for farmers and that it should benefit farmers. But if you look at many proposals from your group in particular, then much of the agricultural money should not go directly into the hands of farmers, but rather be used for NGOs, which then settle any restoration projects and co. So I think farmers are more likely not to feel represented by the Greens. What's your accusation? They are more likely to have mental problems when they hear agrarian ideas from Green MPs.

Mr President! Dear Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Agriculture is the backbone of our society. As a former teacher once said: It is not gold and money that feeds the world, but a billowing field of wheat. But our agriculture and our farmers are under increasing pressure, economically and therefore physically. It is high time that we recognised physical health in agriculture as an important issue, as well as all other challenges in this sector. If our farmers do not feel heard, this leads to frustration, and this frustration is then discharged. The most recent example, we have experienced it ourselves in front of the European Parliament: demonstrations, such as against the Mercosur trade agreement. Thousands of farmers see their existence threatened here, and they feel powerless when it comes to their concerns and concerns. Nevertheless, our President of the Commission has travelled to Uruguay and speaks on the ground that there are no problems with this agreement. But it is precisely this non-recognition of legitimate concerns towards our farmers that not only harms our trust, but also jeopardises the future of our entire agriculture in Europe. We must rethink towards a genuine appreciation for the work of our farmers. We have to listen, take their voice seriously, create working conditions that are economically better and thus also mentally more sustainable. A strong agriculture needs a strong voice. You, Commissioner, are responsible for this in the Commission and we Members are also responsible in Parliament. That's what we stand for.

Thank you very much for the question! I think a lot of things work great here. I know it from our volunteer fire brigade in Austria, in Lower Austria: It helped in the Netherlands last year. We in Austria have now had offers of help from Bavaria, from the Netherlands, from other countries. I believe that always establishing a new structure may not be right. I believe in creating networking – and there are already so many great projects; This can be further expanded. Exchange of experience is very important. That's the way to go. We see that disasters are becoming more and more. We need quick help here, and I'm really grateful to everyone. I believe that we are really going the right way here, especially to rely on volunteer fire brigades, etc.; They are really very supportive here.

Mr President, Commissioner! In the last few days I have witnessed for myself how it is when entire houses are destroyed, streets are washed away and crops are destroyed. And here you really have to say thank you again to everyone who is currently busy with tidying up: Thank you to everyone who helps! And of course, such extreme weather events also affect our agriculture. We've had the hottest summer since records were made. We have now seen rainfall in a few days, which is otherwise only in half a year, and we must respond to this situation, not only in Europe, but globally. The FAO warns that global food production can fall by up to 30% by 2050. It cannot be the way some would like to see agricultural production areas in Europe taken out of use and production possibilities further restricted. We have a global responsibility to grow climate-friendly varieties, to look, to develop irrigation where it is possible to establish insurance models – these are the paths we need. And let's stop blaming our farmers for climate change! They are the ones who provide us with food on a daily basis; Unfortunately, some people here have often forgotten that.

(Start of speech with microphone switched off) Consciousness. You talk a lot about Europe. But Europe is, I believe, only responsible for 10% or 12% of greenhouse gas emissions, and you blame European agriculture for climate change. Are you aware that European agriculture really contributes only a fraction to climate change? There is also the question to you: What have you already actively contributed to the fact that there is a change in climate change? Blaming someone else is always very good, but what did you do yourself?