Vice-President Frans Timmermans of the European Commission believes that the recent studies into the consequences of the Green Deal and the farm-to-fork offer a distorted picture. According to Timmermans, these studies only look at the production side.
Climate Commissioner Timmermans said this in a public hearing of the Energy and Climate Committee of the House of Representatives on 7 October. MPs then discussed the climate plans of the European Commission with Timmermans, the package of climate measures under the title 'Fit for 55'. Timmermans took part in that meeting by video link.
“By only looking at a number of targets on the production side, you get a distorted picture. This is a more common problem with the current scientific model used in many of these studies. For example, the demand side is not taken into account and a lot is happening there," a spokesman for the European Commission quoted Timmermans when asked.
“You experience that for yourself in the supermarket: growing demand for food with fewer pesticides, better animal welfare, etc. And in Europe, the demand for organic food has grown by 60% in 10 years. […] That has not had any dramatic consequences for the production”, Timmermans told the MPs.
All studies published to date into the consequences of reducing chemicals in agriculture point to a decrease in production, higher food prices, less exports and more imports.
A spokesperson in Brussels pointed out that these studies do not predict the future, while it is also clear that the costs of inaction are higher. The final conclusions of the JRC study conclude as the first finding 'that times are changing….'
Last week, most LNV ministers in Luxembourg said that climate protection should not hinder food production. Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia stressed that the requirements should not lead to higher food prices. Above all, the Eastern European EU Member States strongly rejected a restriction on the number of animals.
Only the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark agreed to the “Fit for 55” package. But these countries also demanded more financial incentives for farmers to protect the climate.