Following the adoption of three opinions at the Committee of the Regions' plenary session in Brussels, the CoR asks that the proposed reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy do not redress the serious imbalances in the current system and ensure continued support for the many small and medium-sized farmers and producers who make up the majority of the EU'sEU's agricultural sector.

The three opinions adopted at the CoR's May plenary complement and enhance the Committee's previous work on agriculture and CAP reform, notably the outlook opinion on local food systems requested by Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Cioloş and the opinion on the future of the CAP, drafted by René Souchon, President of the Auvergne regional council (France).

In the opinion of René Souchon, the need for more support for smaller farmers or those from less-favoured areas is also underlined on agricultural quality schemes such as protected designations of origin (PDOs).

In addition, according to Luis Durnwalder, governor of the autonomous province of Bolzano (Italy) the agriculture is a key element in the economies of many of Europe's regions. Therefore, on the CAP towards 2020, the persistent imbalances in the way the CAP supports the farming sector – based on historical payments – must be eliminated in the reform in order to ensure that the CAP provides fairer and more targeted support, in particular for smaller businesses or those that face particular geographical handicaps.

On the last opinion adopted by the CoR's plenary stated the opportunities for European producers on the global stage. Emilia Müller, Minister for Federal and European Affairs of the Free State of Bavaria (Germany) highlighted on the so-called 'milk package' that the he liberalisation of the milk market and the proposed phasing out of quotas by 2015 will undoubtedly lead to greater price volatility, putting many small and medium-sized producers under threat. But it will also present a raft of new opportunities for European producers to exploit increased demand. According to Ms Müller, the important thing is to ensure that these smaller producers have a range of new instruments put into place to stabilise the milk market and to help farmers to be competitive in a global market.