Finnish Food and Drink Industries Federation (ETL) stresses the importance of ensuring that northern specific conditions are acknowledged in the EU’s 2028–2034 budget to maintain food production across all parts of the Union.
ETL emphasizes that the European Commission’s mid-July proposal for the next Multiannual Financial Framework must ensure adequate funding for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). This funding is a cornerstone of European food security and benefits both primary producers and consumers.
– The Common Agricultural Policy and its financing are not relics of the past. They represent today’s shared responsibility for food security and sustainability, says Jukka Ihanus, Director of public affairs at ETL.
Commission aims to simplify the EU budget and improve impact through national programs. However, merging agricultural funding with regional development funding into a single new fund would increase uncertainty for Finnish food chain.
– In the upcoming negotiations among member states, it is crucial to ensure that Finland’s northern conditions are taken into account in the criteria for agricultural funding, Ihanus says.
Joint EU funding engages the entire food chain in shared sustainability goals. It supports sustainable development and ensures the availability of raw materials for food industry in line with market needs.
– Any new budget model for agriculture must guarantee a level playing field within the internal market for food, Ihanus adds.
Punitive tax to undermine jobs and investment
ETL is critical of the newly proposed EU corporate tax targeting companies with annual turnover exceeding EUR 100 million. Raising corporate taxes would harm growth and competitiveness. “Punitive” tax would be a direct blow to investment and job creation. Europe needs growth, not policies that suppress it.
Strengthening the competitiveness of food sector requires targeted EU funding. Commission proposes a new umbrella-style Competitiveness Fund to consolidate growth-oriented funding across sectors. ETL underlines that the food sector must have access to this funding to succeed in a highly competitive environment.
Food sector is Europe’s largest industrial sector. It must be part of EU industrial policy and funding solutions for the green transition. EU funding criteria must continue to promote competitiveness, for instance in research and development projects. Finnish food-sector research has so far performed well in international comparisons.
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