Certain aspects of the position of the European Parliament and the Council on the Common Agricultural Policy may raise eyebrows, but the upcoming negotiations can still ensure that it is in line with the bloc’s objectives, according to Ursula von der Leyen.

The 27 European Ministers of Agriculture and several Members of the European Parliament have tuned their violins in order to begin negotiations to reach a final text on the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Talks are expected to begin in the European Parliament on Tuesday (November 10).

A coalition of several NGOs has called on Brussels to invalidate the CAP proposal and to protect the Green Pact for Europe, its main environmental strategy.

After having voted against the Parliament’s position, the Greens wrote an open letter to von der Leyen urging her to withdraw “the Commission’s weak and outdated CAP proposal and present a new one that is in line with the EU’s Green Deal.”

In her response to the Greens, the Berlaymont head shared some of the concerns raised in the above-mentioned missive, explaining that several aspects of the Parliament and Council’s position seemed, at this stage, to hinder the possibility of reaching an effective and adequate agreement on the CAP.

Von der Leyen also acknowledged that the CAP proposal currently under discussion had been adopted during the previous term of the European Commission and that her cabinet had approved it in accordance with the principle of institutional continuity.