Weak Wojciechowski: EPP Group asks for clarifications

“The performance of the Commissioner-designate Wojciechowski was very weak,” said Herbert Dorfmann MEP, EPP Group spokesperson for the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee. The EPP Group will therefore ask for further clarifications before deciding on its position.  

“He did not provide concrete answers to a lot of questions and some answers were really strange. On international trade, for example, he said that we should pay money to the farms that don't use feed coming from outside the EU. He also had very strange ideas on animal welfare and the ‘green’ deal.”

“On the CAP reform, which is on the table, he is not sure whether to go on or not. He said that he wants to change it but he did not say what he wants to change. He said he wants a long term perspective for agriculture, but we did not understand what this perspective actually is.”

“We have to go to the second round,” underlined Dorfmann. “He has to clarify his arguments and we need to have more precise answers to our questions.”

“The EPP Group in the European Parliament is the ally of farmers across Europe. We have always defended a strong Common Agricultural Policy and we will continue to do so,” underlined Siegfrid Mureşan MEP, Vice-Chairman of the EPP Group responsible for budgetary issues.

“The next five years will be crucial for the future of the CAP. With many challenges ahead, our priority is to secure the future of European food production by giving our farmers the prospect to invest and giving them planning security for the future, concluded MEP Mureşan.”