In the presentation of its new vision for European Union agriculture and food, the European Commission has announced a notable course correction.
The commission said it would drop its strict regulatory framework imposed on farmers, opting for simplification of regulations and promoting farming as a profession instead.
The EC’s Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms, Raffaele Fitto, admitted: “The past years have been extremely challenging for everyone,” in his speech announcing the Vision for Agriculture and Food on February 19.
In the communication, climate was only mentioned a couple of times – and then only as an apparently obligatory side-note.
Unlike previously, the focus was put on incentive-based, voluntary benefits rather than of punishment and fines.
Fitto added: “The agricultural sector has suffered even more due to its intrinsic characteristics that make it particularly vulnerable to events and market fluctuations.“
He referenced the major farmers’ protests of last year and the ensuing dialogue with the commission.
Police use tear gas and water cannons in an attempt to disperse persistent farmers protesting outside the EU institutions in Brussels.#Bruxelles #AgriculteursEnColere #FarmerProtest2024 pic.twitter.com/rFxDvhGwO2
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) February 26, 2024
According to the commission’s crucial principles, farming and food were strategic sectors for the EU and a key part of its economic competitiveness.
It added: “Farming works with nature. Farmers are part of the solution, not a problem. They play a vital role in protecting and enhancing our natural resources, including soil, water, biodiversity, and climate resilience. “
The latter marked a significant move away from the previous view, when the commission chose nature restoration over agriculture and sided with environmentalists and “green” NGOs rather than farmers.
Now, Fitto said, the EC wanted “to collaborate with the agri-food sector to ensure it remains competitive, resilient, attractive for future generations, and profitable“.
He announced what he said was a new way of working – through building trust and fostering dialogue.
Instead of strict regulations, the EC would now resort to simple, innovative and customised solutions, he said.
“Policies must be adapted to global, regional, and national needs, assuming a territorial approach. Protecting diversity means avoiding a one-size-fits-all strategy, instead opting for targeted solutions that enhance both competitiveness and sustainability,” Fitto added.
Instead of giving out commands from Brussels as before, the EC acknowledged: “Local authorities are often best placed to lead initiatives shaping favourable food environments.”
Fitto stated: “To have a vision for agriculture means ensuring generational renewal, allowing young people to continue family businesses or start new ventures in a profitable sector.
“It means developing rural areas with investments in digitalisation, infrastructure and essential services, creating places where people can live, work and build their futures,” the Italian said.
“It means having a vision for farmers, food producers, consumers, rural communities, future generations, and Europe as a whole,” he said.
Christophe Hansen, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, stressed the need for fairness and stability for farmers.
“Fair pay for fair work!,” he said.
Hansen announced the future presentation of a “Generational Renewal Strategy, to tackle barriers such as farmers’ access to land, capital and skills”.
“We need an approach that rewards farmers rather than to put too much pressure on them,” he said .
Hansen also promised a level playing field for European farmers, as they adhered to strict pesticides rules unlike much of their international competition.
“They are calling for change. And we will deliver it. The work starts immediately, this year,” he stated.
“As always, our action will be guided by pragmatism, respect for international obligations and dialogue.”
Not everyone was enamoured with the new approach. Green MEP Martin Häusling said the new vision was “a step backwards”.
“Farm to Fork and three generations of CAP ecologisation are being thrown overboard. Climate change and species extinction are being ignored,” he said.
“There is little visionary in the future programme presented today by Agriculture Commissioner Hansen. It is a relapse into the belief that economic and competitive development are the solution to our problems and that there is no need to take into account the environment in which we live.
“The text reads as if the challenges of climate change and species extinction did not exist at all. This does not do justice to the current situation and is backward-looking,” Häusling said.
“Not even the results of the Strategic Dialogue on Agriculture, which were developed by consensus, receive sufficient attention.”
EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski says farmers' protests across the bloc changed his outlook and helped facilitate reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy. #FarmersProtests2024 #Agriculture pic.twitter.com/ofJ5k5Kujw
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) May 10, 2024
