What future prospects for agriculture – How to bring agriculture and nature conservation together a first round of talks with minister Martine Hansen

The Mouvement Ecologique recently had a stimulating two-hour exchange with Agriculture Minister Martine Hansen and her officials.

At the beginning of the meeting, which was the first since the minister’s inauguration, the general direction of agricultural policy was briefly discussed. In this context, the Mouvement Ecologique regretted that the fundamental orientation of Luxembourg’s agricultural policy did not appear to have been discussed at the recent countryside table.

In the opinion of the Mouvement Ecologique, this would be urgently necessary. The question would be whether agriculture should continue to be under pressure from the world market, from ‘bigger and bigger’, or whether new prospects for small and medium-sized agriculture should be created. Furthermore, in the opinion of the Mouvement Ecologique, the discussion was too short-sighted, as agricultural policy would appear to have been limited to ‘procedural’ problems, also due to nature conservation requirements. These undoubtedly exist and must be addressed. At the same time, however, it must also be discussed that the current orientation of agricultural policy contributes significantly to the destruction of our natural resources.

Any discussion about the organisation of agriculture must therefore also include the question of how agricultural policy should be shaped and, in particular, how biodiversity and water quality should be preserved. These are key challenges. It is not without reason that the extinction of farms is occurring in parallel with the loss of biodiversity. There is an urgent need for new future prospects for farmers that respect the natural foundations of life. It was pointed out that the model of the ‘Future Commission for Agriculture’, where representatives from nature conservation, environmental protection and agriculture, among others, sit together at one table, is working relatively successfully in Germany.

The Minister of Agriculture emphasised that the Agriculture Table was primarily concerned with tackling acute problems, such as the problems of building in green zones, the ammonia and nitrate problem, the regulations in water protection areas, as well as short-term adjustments to agricultural legislation, and that the Agriculture Table aims to exchange ideas with agricultural representatives in a topic-oriented and practical manner.

This is partly understandable from the point of view of the Mouvement Ecologique. However, according to the organisation, the biodiversity crisis is also seen as acute. There is a wish that these aspects could be discussed much more in another agriculture table that includes more stakeholders.

You can find the entire report in the downloads here.

23.05.2024