Generational renewal of farmers is a thorny issue for Romania

Generational renewal should be made a priority for the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy, given that the highest proportion of those employed in agriculture in the Member States are farmers over the age of 65 (namely 31%), while young people under the age of 35 only account for 6%.

In Romania, there are over 4 000 farmers aged between 91 and 100 who make individual applications for subsidies to the Agricultural Payments and Intervention Agency (APIA). These farmers are recorded as actively involved in farming the land, therefore they apply for APIA subsidies. Of the 866 000 applications submitted in this campaign to the APIA, over half were by farmers aged over 60. But there are only 1 000 farmers under 20 years of age, and 35 000 under 30. The population has aged significantly over the last few years, with serious repercussions on important sectors such as agriculture.

1. What measures can the Commission take to encourage young people to work in agriculture?

2. To what extent will the issue of generational renewal be integrated in the post-2020 CAP?