Brussels Live
SearchAlertsAccount
All broadcasts

European ParliamentCommittee on Agriculture and Rural Development

Committee meeting AGRI

Wednesday, November 4, 2026

Transcribed and translated automatically from the original sound. Mistakes are possible.

Names come from the chair's announcements and are marked as such; committees publish no official list. Speakers who were not announced are numbered.

Get an email when your words come up here

On the agenda

  1. 1Adoption of agenda
  2. 2Chair’s announcements
  3. 3Adoption of minutes
  4. 4Exchange of views with the Commission on the New Strategic Approach to Research and Innovation for competitive, resilient and sustainable agriculture, forestry, rural areas and food systems. Future- proofing EU agri-food through AgRI 2040 and Food 2040
  5. 5Public hearing
  6. * * *
  7. 6Coordinators’ meeting
  8. * * *
  9. *** Voting time ***
  10. 7Amending Regulation (EU) 2018/848 as regards certain production, labelling and certification rules and certain rules on trade with third countries***I 2025/0417(COD) COM(2025)0780 - C10-0350/2025
  11. 8Generational renewal in agriculture 2026/2041(INI)
  12. 9Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and Indonesia 2026/0182R(NLE)
  13. 10EU-Canada Agreement: modification of concessions on tariff rate quotas included in the EU Schedule CLXXV 2026/0282(NLE) COM(2026)0480
  14. *** End of vote ***
  15. 11Presentation of the study “The Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the period 2028-2034: The new CAP architecture and its potential impacts on EU farms viability”
  16. 12Exchange of views on wildfire, drought and extreme heat: farmers’ testimonies of climate-change related extreme weather and its impact on their land and businesses
  17. 13Reporting back on the mission to Occitanie, France
  18. * * *
  19. 14Exchange of views with Commissioner Christophe Hansen on the budget allocated to the EU promotion policy and on the annual report on simplification, implementation and enforcement
  20. 15Any other business
  21. 16Date of next meetings

  1. Speaker 1en

    Seeking to address some of those issues. Thank you.

  2. Speaker 2en

    Mm-hm. Thank you. Uh, colleagues, and now I would like to give the floor also to DG Agri, Mr. Šiltus. You have 5 minutes, please.

  3. Speaker 3en

    Thank you, Madam Chair, and thanks for the opportunity to, uh, to contribute to this inspiring debate this morning. On equality between women and men, which is a fundamental right and a founding value, yet we heard this morning indeed that inequalities remain in agriculture and rural areas. With only one-third of EU farms managed by women, and women that continue to face barriers, we just heard it again on access to land, finance, training, rural services, social protection. Women make a vital contribution to European agriculture as farmers, farm managers, entrepreneurs, and innovators, but women should not only contribute; they must have a stronger voice in shaping the future. And we need more women in decision-making positions, farmers organizations, in cooperatives, agricultural institutions, so that their experience is perspectives and priorities are reflected in the decisions that affect the sector. So, in this context, I would like to highlight three areas of action for gender equality in agriculture, if you allow me. The first one is on generational renewal. We published a strategy for generational renewal just over a year ago, recognizing that attracting more young women to farming is essential. Removing barriers to finance, land, skills is both a matter of fairness, in our view, as well as economic necessity. Supporting women farmers means strengthening innovation and entrepreneurship, resilience of rural economies. We heard again and again about that in the testimonies of the speakers you invited, and let me also underline the important role of financial institutions in ensuring women can access the investments they need. And I particularly was struck by the testimony of Mrs. Vogelrieder on the role that women entrepreneurs can play on the farms and in the countryside. Second point I want to make is on the current and future cap support for women. Under the Common Agricultural Policy 2023-2027, gender equality and increase in women's participation in farming are

  4. explicit objectives in the regulation. However, a Ms. Kelley just recalled it, only two member states have introduced enhanced support for young women farmers or higher investment aid for women. And of course, it should not be forgotten that gap-funded innovation and Horizon Europe research also contribute to improving opportunities for women. So we need to look at the future. The proposed national and regional partnership plans offer an important opportunity to make gender equality more visible and measurable priority across EU spending. The Commission's proposed budget framework strengthens gender equality, mainstreaming expenditure tracking, and the use of gender disaggregated performance indicators. Apologies for the technocratic terms, but you all know that tracking expenditure is key. And of course, as part of the NRP proposals, the Commission also provides important incentives for generational renewal. And that includes also importantly topics like rural services, as well as the farm relief services. For example, in the area of childcare and maternity, we just heard how important that is. And it is also encouraging for me to hear that in your negotiations and discussions on these proposals, you are considering strengthening the support for women. The third point I would like to make is on our women in farming platform, which we launched on the 8th of May of this year, with a very considerable interest. Now, 475 members representing almost all EU member states, demonstrating a clear interest in connecting with each other, learning from one another, and contributing together to the future of European agriculture. And I note also the example of a mentoring network that Ms. Phillips shared this morning, an example of the power these networks can have. And because of the great interest in this platform, we have it open now permanently, so women can continue to join. Women that are active in agriculture or agriculture-related fields. And we intend for this community to grow. So more women can contribute to the

  5. experience, contribute with their experience, and benefit from this network. So that it becomes a growing community. And the Fliara project, you heard about it this morning, is also one of the inspirations for the establishment of the platform and its developing activities. We hope this platform offers the opportunity to strengthen women's voices in agricultural decision-making, to create more opportunities for women to take on the leadership roles that I talked about earlier, and to participate in decision-making at all levels of agriculture. And next week we will have a first physical meeting of a number of the members of this platform with discussions focusing on two topics that they have themselves identified, mentoring, and finance key topics that I also heard a lot about this morning, and I really hope that this engagement on the network will also promote further the important topics of the that you were discussing here this morning. Thank you very much.

  6. Speaker 2en

    Okay, thank you. And Thomas asked for the floor, but please, Thomas, really a very short reaction.

  7. Speaker 3en

    Thank you, Chair, for this exceptional opportunity. Just to collect shelters, I'm not doubting that there's quite some activities from the side of the Commission. But can you please take away two things. Mandatory for member states to offer relief services, especially to women, and the second, mandatory special engagement for women. When it comes to generational renewal, and the third point, second pillar, rural development. It's about rural development, it's about rural areas, and to just abandon this second pillar is a real blow also to empower women in the landscape. So please take this back to DG Agri and take a look at that. Thank you.

  8. Speaker 2en

    So maybe now I have to give the floor again to the Commission, but please, next time you can, or if you want to react, but really a very short, I don't want to have here just now some more discussion.

  9. Speaker 3en

    Thank you very much. I took very good note. Thank you for the great suggestions. I also hope that you will try to put those suggestions, of course, in the negotiating mandate of the Parliament. And then we need to discuss that in the trilogues with the other institutions. I want to note on the rural areas, we can only underline the importance of rural areas, and that's also why we have proposed to have 10% of the non-allocated, non-ring-fenced amounts dedicated to expenditure in rural areas. So hopefully that will address some of the concerns you have in that area. Thank you.

  10. Speaker 2en

    Okay, thank you. And the last is Christine Singer. From Gender Mainstreaming Network, Christine, you have farm five minutes for your concluding remarks. Please.

  11. Christine SingerRenewde

    Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I will keep this very brief. In closing, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to our three speakers. You have shown us very clearly how diverse women’s responsibilities are in agriculture. But also what obstacles and barriers they face and what stones are in their way. And I would like to thank all my female and male colleagues who have taken such an intensive part in the discussion and also all those who prepared this hearing. We have heard very many important points. We now know where action is needed, and what we as Members of Parliament take away from this is that politics is not measured by what we announce and what strategies we adopt. We will be judged by what is actually set in motion, what is implemented, and what, out of what we decide, actually reaches the women on farms in rural areas. This International Year of the Woman Farmer must therefore not end on 31 December. The attention we have received this year, we must use to achieve concrete improvements. And I think we know what we have to do in this sense. Many thanks to everyone who has taken part in this discussion today. Thank you very much.

  12. Speaker 2en

    Okay, thank you very much. So, I would like to thank really all our panelists and to you for this very interesting and important discussion. And I close this item now. And I would like to ask our coordinators we have meeting in 11:30. Is it so in 10 minutes? Thank you.