In light of the Russian war in Ukraine, the European Union must revise the Climate Plan Green Deal and the farm-to-fork food strategy, according to the European agricultural umbrella organization Copa-Cogeca. After a presidium meeting in Brussels, chairwoman Christine Lambert did not hesitate to also reprimand EU Commissioner Frans Timmermans.
“The EU designed the food strategy in a perfect world, in a world without crises. However, within the EU, because of the Russian war in Ukraine, we cannot now produce less,” Lambert said. The chairwoman of the umbrella farmer associations called for a return to agricultural productivity. According to Lambert, EU countries should take over agricultural production that Ukraine cannot fully utilize.
Lambert also criticized EC Vice-President Frans Timmermans for his recent statements. “We ask Mr. Timmermans to stop spreading fake news about the work of COPA and COGECA,” Lambert said. In the European Parliament's environment committee, Timmermans accused those warning about food shortages of fear-mongering. According to Timmermans, the war in Ukraine is not a reason to abandon the farm-to-fork strategy.
According to Timmermans, opponents of the Farm-to-Fork strategy are using the war to obstruct his climate plans. Timmermans acknowledges that the war in Ukraine causes serious problems in the wheat and maize markets, but said this is a “logistical and financial problem, not a problem with food availability.”
Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen of Copa-Cogeca said that "radical additions to the Green Deal are necessary. We have no problem with the Green Deal as such. The foundations are there, but we need to have enough tools to be able to do what we must do: supply food in a sustainable manner. So we need an improved Green Deal package to [be able to] do this," Pesonen said.