The European Parliament is contradicting itself! The same assembly that only a few days ago agreed on a European climate law, on Tuesday evening, with the first vote on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), spoke out against exactly what the EU wants to fight for by 2050: climate neutrality, protection of biodiversity, species protection, promotion of organic, sustainable agriculture and more animal welfare.

All of this is now to give way to a fatal subsidy policy that - as before - promotes large industrial companies using the watering can principle and abandons small and medium-sized farms that actually want to act in the interests of people and the environment. This puts environmental and climate protection in a bad position in the upcoming trilogue negotiations with the Council and the Commission. It is regrettable that Parliament is not remaining consistent here and, together with the Council of Agriculture Ministers, is allowing itself to be lulled by the lobby of the agricultural industry.

In a parallel voting process, which was not visible to the other groups, the Christian Democrat, Social Democrat and Liberal groups had agreed on a compromise in the run-up to yesterday's vote, which further watered down the Commission's already weak reform proposal. A motion by the Greens/EFA group together with the Left to reject the CAP reform in this variant failed due to the majority of Christian Democrats, Social Democrats and Liberals, who brought the vote forward in a surprise maneuver.

Subsidies for agricultural businesses will therefore continue to be linked to agricultural land. This means that around 80 percent of subsidies will go to only 20 percent of farms. Large, industrial agriculture will continue to be unfairly favored - and small and medium-sized farms will be forgotten. Factory farming, monocultures and the massive use of antibiotics and pesticides will therefore continue to be supported by the EU.

In addition, only 30 percent of the entire CAP budget is to go to environmental programs, the so-called eco-schemes. This falls well short of the recommendations of experts and scientists and is far below the minimum share of 50 percent that we are calling for. At the same time, it is up to the EU member states themselves to decide how these eco-schemes are implemented. A uniform European strategy is therefore not being pursued.

"This result is fatal for the climate, fatal for the environment and fatal for every farm that really wants to work organically. Such a compromise goes against everything the EU should actually stand for," said Manuela Ripa, MEP for the Ecological Democratic Party. "This must not be allowed to stand - this agricultural reform must be overturned in the final vote on Friday. Otherwise the farm-to-fork strategy will be nothing but hot air and our climate and environmental goals would be in serious danger!"