Generational renewal is a particularly acute problem in mountain areas, where the risk of land abandonment is three times greater than in the lowlands, and young mountain farmers face intersectional challenges to enter the profession such as access to land and credit, and decent working conditions.  

Consultations on the new strategy

To address this challenge, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) held a stakeholder consultation on generational renewal on Tuesday 3 March, gathering views on the Commission’s Strategy for Generational Renewal, released in October 2025. Led by Rapporteur Mr Emiliano García-Page Sánchez (Spain/PES), President of the Government of the Autonomous Community of Castile-La Mancha, the consultation emphasised the need to boost the attractiveness of rural areas and provide additional resources to support generational renewal in agriculture, where just 12% of farm managers in the EU are under 40, and only 2.5% are women, according to Eurostat.  

The expert panel highlighted the deeply concerning trends of depopulation in rural and remote areas, a key trend often observed in mountain areas, as well as the need for a wholistic definition of security and resilience. The multifaceted nature of generational renewal contributes to the complexity of the policy responses required, going beyond the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) with strong to links to cohesion funding, rural vitality, and territorial development strategies.   

Euromontana’s contribution

Euromontana  emphasised the lack of dedicated resources for generational renewal announced in the recent strategy and called for additional dedicated support for mountain farming, given the intersectional and compounding challenges for young farmers in mountain areas. The importance of dedicated measures for land abandonment measures in mountains (such as ANC payments, alternative land access models and transparent ownership) was also highlighted, given that the risk of land abandonment is three times greater than in the lowlands, with associated impacts on landscape management, biodiversity and natural hazards, as highlighted in Euromontana’s position paper on generational renewal.  

Euromontana also highlighted the link with the upcoming MFF, calling for 30% of EU funds for rural areas in the upcoming National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs), including 10% for mountains, to improve access to services and infrastructure, among other key priorities.  

Several stakeholders acknowledged the need for additional funding for generational renewal, as well as the need to provide real prospects for young farmers, decent living and working conditions, and appropriate tools for succession and knowledge transfer to successfully integrate new and young farmers. Regional authorities were present to share lessons learned from engaging young people, whilst stakeholders highlighted the importance of agroecology, the potential of organic farming, and the need for a structural approach to generational renewal that ensures the agricultural system operates within planetary boundaries.  

The expert panel welcomed Euromontana’s input, acknowledging the lack of resources and the need for a wholistic approach to generational renewal as important components for the upcoming opinion. Stakeholders are invited to submit position papers or written input to nat@cor.europa.eu in the weeks ahead for consideration in the Committee’s opinion.  

A fully funded strategy that works for mountain areas

Euromontana calls upon the Commission to provide increased resources to generational renewal to tackle land abandonment and support the vitality of mountain areas when implementing the Generational Renewal Strategy, alongside dedicated territorial measures for mountains in the next MFF, to reach the EU’s target of doubling the share of young farmers by 2040.