The difficult balance between agriculture and green transition in the EU
The long-awaited EU budget was officially presented two days ago in Brussels by President Ursula Von der Leyen. European Commission’s “strategic dialogue on agriculture”. Announced by the President of the European Commission in his State of the Union address on 13 September 2023 and launched in January 2024, the strategic dialogue on the future of EU agriculture brought together 29 key stakeholders in the European agri-food sectorscivil society, rural communities and academia to reach a common understanding on the further development of a key area of European life and economy in a new format of political discourse.
The group, led by German Peter Strohschneider, worked for over seven months on the report, over 100 pages outlining a vision for the future of agri-food systems and EU policy in this regard. The report stresses the urgency of reforming EU food policy and improving cooperation between actors involved in the production chain, from farmers to large-scale distribution. In particular, the expert group recommends a reform of agricultural subsidies to member countriesmoving “from the current non-degressive area-based payments” to a more effective “income support” approach. This refers to the controversial direct payments to farmers calculated per cultivated hectare, which make up around 75% of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and are believed to excessively advantage large farms.
The text also includes a reference to a possible future European Agri-Food Council. (EBAF) as a high-level forum for continuous and more in-depth exchanges between the main actors at European level. The 110-page final report is divided into ten guiding principles and 14 recommendations. In response to the farmers’ protests that have shaken the continent in recent months, the report urges European decision-makers to take “decisive actions to address the challenges”, in particular those of the transition of the sector and fair income for farmers. In short, a first attempt to finally address a sector, such as agriculture, among the most affected by the crisis in recent years, as seen with the so-called “tractor protest”which literally shocked Brussels and the main European capitals for days.
The premises seem perfect. The 14 recommendations refer to issues that have been at the center of the dialogue between farmers and institutions for years. The need for change, the strategic role of food and agricultural production, recognition of the important role of young people, integrated strengthening of economic, environmental and social sustainability, creation of value in markets along the supply chain, exploitation of the opportunities of technology and innovation to support the transition, balanced, healthier and more sustainable diets and recognition of the “crucial” importance of attractive rural areas for food security, the future vitality of societies and liberal democracy.
The problem appears, as the main industry associations say in unison, to always be how to get to a fair compromise between the needs of farmers and those of the green transition. “What emerges is the lack of a clear indication of how to build a policy that prepares the future without pitting the sectors against each other as was done by the previous Commission with the directives that cornered the livestock sector. And from which von der Leyen seemed to have distanced herself with the statements in which she assured that measures against farmers would never be adopted.
“What agriculture needs are incentives and investments capable of leading to a real modernization of the sector.“, says Coldiretti. In short, there are still many shadows over the future of European agriculture.above all, as Carlo Fidanza, Head of the Fratelli d’Italia Delegation and ECR coordinator in the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee, also claims, regarding the green transition that risks clashing with the needs of a sector that is increasingly in crisis: “We cannot help but notice that the report, although often in a sweetened form, is in many parts unbalanced towards those ultra-environmentalist positions on which European citizens expressed themselves critically at the ballot boxes in June. The reference to the Temporary Just Transition Fund that should support our farmers, outside of the CAP, is good, but many of the issues regarding the need to guarantee the competitiveness of the sector and the fair distribution of value along the supply chains remain unresolved. European agriculture needs to turn the page on the reckless choices of recent years and this report, although animated by good intentions, is certainly not a sufficient response. Now we will need a lot of good politics to defend and relaunch the sector”.
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