The Council vigorously opposes the CAP reform: “It is absolutely unacceptable”

In statements sent to Europa Press, the advisor took stock of the year, emphasizing that the initial proposal presented by the European Commission calls into question the fundamental pillars of the CAP and generates a “great concern” in the Andalusian countrysideby jeopardizing a model that has been essential to the stability of the agricultural sector in recent decades.

Thus, Fernández-Pacheco stressed that the CAP “is not a simple payment” but a structural policy which, for more than 40 years, has favored the modernization of the Andalusian and European countryside and has made it possible to guarantee “one of the fundamental principles of the European Union: its food sovereignty”.

In this context, he stressed that the Andalusian Government has already paid 90% of the direct aid corresponding to the CAPwhich represents more than a billion euros which benefited around 194,000 Andalusian farmers and breeders. The advisor stressed that this aid constitutes an essential pillar for the profitability of agricultural operations and for maintaining the productive fabric of the Andalusian rural environment, especially in a scenario marked by increasing difficulties.

As he explained, 2025 was a “particularly demanding” year for the Andalusian landscape, with significant challenges linked to plant and animal health, to which were added the effects of drought and extreme weather events, such as the passage of various storms. In this scenario, Fernández-Pacheco warned that it is “particularly worrying” that Europe is considering a CAP reform that challenges the common model and opens the door to a less coherent system.

The advisor defended this The CAP “must remain agrarian and common”and expressly rejected a model that would result in a “27-speed” policy, with different criteria depending on each Member State’s commitment to its agricultural sector. According to him, this approach would generate inequalities between territories and weaken the position of the European primary sector, by breaking with a common framework which allowed it to compete on an equal footing within the Community market.

The Andalusian sector is wary of the Brussels proposal

Fernández-Pacheco stressed that the sector’s distrust of the European proposal is such that the year ended with mobilizations of farmers and breeders in Brussels, in defense of a strong and truly common CAP. These protests, as noted, have received the support of the Andalusian government, which has demonstrated its support for the agricultural and livestock sector in its demands to the European institutions. The advisor insisted that the Andalusian Government “is on the side of farmers and breeders” and this will continue to support them in defending a CAP model guaranteeing the economic viability of agricultural operations.

In this sense, he underlined the need for future agricultural policy to guarantee the profitability of the countryside and to take into account the productive reality of regions like Andalusia, with a determining weight of the primary sector. Likewise, Fernández-Pacheco defended that the CAP must continue to give a voice to the regions and recognize their role in the design and application of European agricultural policies.

The advisor warned that weakening the CAP would endanger Europe’s ability to feed itselfin an increasingly unstable international context. It is for this reason that it opted for a “strong, common and fair” CAP, which strengthens territorial cohesion and guarantees a sustainable future for the Andalusian and European countryside.