Europe’s farm and farm cooperative organisations, Copa & Cogeca, have described the UK’s exit vote from the EU as a “sad day” for both EU and UK farmers, pledging their efforts to work to ensure the farming community does not “pay the price” for international politics.
Commenting that Copa & Cogeca “highly value” the UK farming unions participation in, and support for, the two bodies EU agriculture policy work, the organisations’ secretary-general, Pekka Pesonen, said the key point now was to avoid any further disruption to the European agriculture market, given the importance of the economic ties across the Channel and the current agricultural market crisis.
“It’s crucial to maintain market stability,” he said. “Over half of UK food and drink exports currently go to the EU and the UK market is also a big export market for food and drink exports from other member states providing European consumers with a good, diverse choice of quality produce.
“We will work hard to ensure that the farming community in the EU or the UK are not the ones to pay the price for international politics and that the impact on trade is minimised.”