Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – MEP Riho Terras and MEP Jana Toom expressed their wish to join the Agriculture Committee (AGRI) but were incapable of securing a spot during the allocation of committee appointments.Â
Jana Toom, a member of the Renew Europe group in the EU, said that she had applied to join the Agriculture Committee (AGRI), which was one of the committees she wanted. According to Toom, membership in this committee is critical due to the upcoming revision of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that escorts the drafting of the new EU budget.Â
Why Does Toom Advocate for CAP Revisions for Eastern Farmers?
Toom considers that the current policy, which prefers farmers in Western member states, should be modified to benefit farmers from member states that joined the EU later. At present, farmers in Eastern Europe accept significantly smaller subsidies from the CAP compared to their Western counterparts.
While voices from the so-called new member states make up 29 per cent of the EU Parliament, Toom estimated that only 26 per cent of the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee’s members are from Central and Eastern European nations, many of whom belong to far-right sections that the rest of the Parliament declines to collaborate with.
What Are the Consequences of Excluding Eastern European MEPs?
“If you exclude the representatives from Eastern Europe who are effectively sidelined, our share drops to just 19 per cent,” Toom reported. “This doesn’t look good. The influence of Eastern Europe in this committee has been significantly reduced, and I don’t think it’s by accident,” she added. Toom presented that without being a member of the committee, MEPs cannot offer amendments to legislation in the EU Parliament.
Could Terras Still Secure a Spot on the AGRI Committee?
Riho Terras, a member of the European People’s Party (EPP), also revealed that he missed out on his desired place on the AGRI committee. “There was fierce competition for spots on this committee, and since seats are allocated based on the d’Hondt method, which favours larger countries, I didn’t make it,” he stated.
Terras stressed that since he aimed to secure a place in the Foreign Affairs Committee and its Subcommittee on Security and Defense, it was not feasible for him to also become a member of AGRI. However, if the Parliament chooses to elevate the Defence Committee to a standalone committee, he might still have a possibility to join the Agriculture Committee.
Terras expressed his wish to join AGRI because he had been a member during the earlier European Parliament term. He is acquainted with agricultural issues, has established connections in the field and wishes to continue operating in this area.
Terras said that he aims to operate within AGRI to ensure that environmental policies do not overly limit farmers’ opportunities. He also emphasized the significance of the new Agriculture Commissioner, stating that the previous commissioner had been relatively weak.
In mid-July, when the composition of the EU Parliament’s committees was chosen, Toom, a member of the Center Party, was assigned to the Employment and Social Affairs Committee (EMPL), the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) and the Petitions Committee (PETI), and as a reserve member of the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI).
