The European Union's agricultural policy (EU) should be more focused on supporting small farms, young farmers, newcomers and food producers in vulnerable areas. For example, a European transition fund should be established to help farmers switch to environmentally friendly and sustainable organic farming.
This will require a substantial increase in the EU budgets, according to one of the recommendations of several dozen European agricultural experts who have drawn up a report on the subject – at the request of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Von der Leyen has previously stated that she will contribute this ‘outcome’ of this Strategic Agricultural Dialogue to the new European Commission that – it is intended – will be formed in the coming months.
According to a press release from Brussels, 29 stakeholders from the “European agricultural and food sector, civil society, rural communities and science” have been preparing the report since January under the chairmanship of German agricultural economist Peter Strohschneider. A few years ago, he was one of the scientists who worked on the German Zukunftkommision (ZKL) of former minister Borchert.
The report focuses on making food affordable, especially for low-income households. It also calls for revising current food labels to better inform consumers about the origin and quality of their food. These measures could lead to a fairer system for farmers, who are often forced to sell their produce below cost price.
The report also calls for strengthening the position of farmers within the value chain (read: higher contract prices for their products). In addition, budgets for environmental and climate protection should be “substantially increased”.
At the same time, the report highlights the need to reduce bureaucracy in the agricultural sector, a measure that had already been announced in the run-up to the European elections. This goes hand in hand with efforts to promote more nature-friendly farming methods. Both agricultural and environmental organisations recognise that a sustainable transformation is needed to preserve biodiversity while supporting agricultural productivity.
In addition, the EU should take greater account of the impact on agriculture when negotiating trade agreements, according to both agri-experts and environmental rapporteurs.