EU Vision for Agriculture & Food – analysis

The European Commission has just unveiled its Vision for Agriculture and Food, setting the stage for the future of Europe’s farming and food system.

Agricultural Commissioner Hansen has kept to his promise to deliver the Vision within his first 100 days in office, while engaging in several discussions and exchanges with farmers, civil society organisations and other stakeholders to understand their needs and concerns. Friends of the Earth Europe welcomes his dedication and ambition, but warns against the Vision’s many shortcomings.  Despite the Strategic Dialogue‘s clear message that continuing with “business as usual” was no longer an option, the outcome of the Vision has shifted towards just that: a continuation of the status quo, overall giving in to corporate interests

Here’s our analysis.

What does the new Vision put on the table?

A bite of progress: farmer revenue.

The Commission acknowledges the need for farmers to receive better revenue from the market – the Vision stating that “practices where farmers are systematically forced to sell below production costs will not be tolerated”.  It proposes directing CAP support toward farmers who need it most, considering measures like degressivity and capping. How this will play out in practice still remains to be seen. A previous draft of the vision proposed a shift of income payments away from the largest and wealthiest farms, but this was unfortunately removed from the final version.

A bland dish

• Economic competitiveness and industrialisation: The Vision places a strong emphasis on economic competitiveness, which risks prioritizing industrialisation of agriculture for short-term gains over the long-term ecological and social of rural areas and their inhabitants.
  
• A step back on nature protection: The European Commission clearly appears to have shifted its focus away from the goals of the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork strategy. For example, the Vision does not set any targets or ambitious measures to reduce pesticide use and risk across Europe, despite this being a priority under the previous mandate. And despite the repeated calls from over a million citizens to phase out pesticides. While the leaked draft included a commitment to finally end the export of toxic chemicals, including pesticides,  banned in the EU, this promise is no longer present in the final published vision.

Clara Bourgin, food, farming and nature campaigner, commented:

“It is deeply concerning that the EU Commission reversed its commitment to halt the export of banned chemicals, including dangerous pesticides. This decision is a clear betrayal of those affected by chemicals deemed too hazardous for EU citizens. The EU must honour its pledge to protect the health of vulnerable communities,uphold its responsibility and finally introduce an export ban .”

• A dangerous push for nature credits: The proposal to rely on nature credits to fund environmental measures raises serious concerns. These credits are likely to add bureaucratic burdens to farmers and to be used for offsetting and greenwashing rather than genuine environmental protection.
  
• Timid recognition of the problems related to industrial animal production: The Vision presents the livestock sector as an essential part of Europe’s farming. However the strong wording on its huge environmental footprint summarised in the report of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of Farming is missing. The Vision suggests further work on the issue, mentioning a ‘work stream’, without any clear indication of the form it will take. What’s more, it seemingly focus on how to create niece premium products rather instead of addressing the many negative impacts of animal factories on local communities, air, water and soils.

Stanka Becheva, food and farming campigner, commented:

“We agree that animal farming is a key piece of Europe’s farming puzzle, but the Commission’s Vision tiptoes around the massive toll industrial livestock production has on local communities, air and water. The Strategic Dialogue report took a strong stance on the animal factories’ huge environmental footprint, yet the Commission has swapped urgency for its new favourite competitiveness motto.”

• Naive belief that high-tech can fix farming’s core issues: First, patented seeds via new genetically modified plants (new GMOs) will push farmers further into dependency on pesticide corporations. Second, while better use of data can help farmers use resources more efficiently, current research on artificial intelligence has yet to translate into genuinely sustainable farming systems.Without a bottom-up approach, there is a real risk of pushing food producers into more exploitative corporate models and contracts.
  
• Push to deregulate: Wrapped in buzzwords like simplification and reducing red tape, the Vision aligns agriculture with its broader agenda to weaken, lower or scrap environmental protections and health and welfare obligations for both people and animals. For Friends of the Earth Europe,  this deregulation is unacceptable, especially given the massive environmental impact of the current farming sector.

The path forward: a fair and green vision

Producers must be at the heart of the transition towards, fairer, greener food and farming systems. They must be empowered to earn a decent living from their work and supported in adapting to new challenges. But this cannot come at the expense of robust and timely EU legislation that protects our planet. There can be no excuses for weakening, delaying, or abandoning laws that safeguard the natural resources essential for producing healthy, nutritious food in the future.

Clara Bourgin, food, farming and nature campaigner, commented:

“We’re glad to see the Commission has acknowledged the need for better income for farmers and fairer market practices, but its Vision remains blurry, with little concrete measures for real change. Instead of proper safeguards for health and nature, we mainly get empty technical fixes. Prioritising economic competitiveness over systemic reforms will only accelerate the industrialisation of agriculture – directly contradicting the Commission’s own promises to protect farmers and the environment.”

Our demands

• Uphold strong EU legislation related to food production to protect nature, climate and fair prices for farmers to earn a decent salary;
• Reduce pesticide use and risk across the continent, with the full implementation of existing legislations to ensure that pesticides are used only as a very last resort;
• Ban the expansion of intensive livestock production (i.e. animal factories or factory farming) and enforcing environmental and health legislation to stop its damage;
• Drop the proposal to widely deregulate new GMOs to ensure food transparency and safety. All generations of GMOs must be kept regulated and labelled, and corporations held accountable for the products they release into our fields and plates.
• Stop the exports of hazardous pesticides banned in the EU that endanger people and the environment in other parts of the world.