'Both UK farmers and EU farmers will be hit hard because of Brexit', farm co-operative says

EU agricultural cooperative Copa & Cogeca has outlined key concerns on the impact of Brexit on EU farmers.

In an initial reaction to the UK governments’ decision to trigger Article 50 to launch Brexit proceedings with the European Union, Copa and Cogeca said the group 'regrets' the UK's decision and that farmers will be 'hit hard'.

Copa and Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen said: “We regret the UK’s decision to launch Brexit proceedings.

“With this decision, we believe that farmers and agribusinesses on both sides will be hit hard. Consumers too who have up until now enjoyed a good choice of quality produce from across the EU will feel the impact.”

The UK is a net importer of agri-food products, worth 57 billion euros, and is well integrated into the Single Market.

At the same time, 60% of UK agri-food exports (beef, lamb, poultry, dairy, cereals) worth £11 billion to the UK economy go to the EU. The UK is also a net contributor to the EU budget.

Paying the price of Brexit

“Copa and Cogeca consequently have serious concerns about the potential trade and budget impact of Brexit on European farmers and their cooperatives,” Mr Pesonen continued.

“We believe that farmers and their families shouldn’t have to pay the price of Brexit. We expect the UK government to honour its commitments in the current EU budget framework and also programmes that it subscribed to which go beyond 2020.”

The group says that ways to maintain the current budget for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which costs less than 1% of EU government’s total public expenditure, growth and jobs, must be found.

Any disruption to agricultural trade should also be avoided, they say. Otherwise, farmers and their cooperatives will end up by paying twice for Brexit, both from a budget and trade perspective.

This could have a bad impact on the whole EU economy, growth and jobs, Mr Pesonen concluded.