Farming is facing a “demographic cliff” edge, the incoming European Commissioner for Agriculture has warned.
90 per cent of Europe’s farmers are aged over 40, he said.
Christophe Hansen faced a three-hour grilling in the European Parliament last night. MEPs must agree on his suitability for the job.
Shortly after midnight he tweeted “Honoured and humbled to be confirmed by @EP_Agriculture as Commissioner for Agriculture & Food.”
Passing the hearing is not the final step however. The European Parliament will have to vote on whether to accept the full set of new European commissioners next month.
Setting out his pitch for the job, Christophe Hansen, promised to be a “boots on the ground” commissioner, to go out and meet as many farmers as possible.
The Luxembourger comes from a farming family himself.
He said, if confirmed in the job, he will work to bring young people back to farming, and to lobby the EU for more money.
“Generational renewal will be central in my thinking for the next five years. Because only 10 percent of farmers are under the age of 40 and therefore we are heading towards a demographic cliff [edge]”.
Christophe Hansen told the European Parliament that farmers need more money not less, and that there are important lessons to be learnt from the protests that took place earlier this year.