Current proposals to reform the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) fail to deliver our critical need for fairer and sustainable food and farming systems, a coalition of civil society groups warned MEPs today.
Friends of the Earth Europe commissioned a cartoon, and sent a letter to MEPs, demanding that the new CAP leads to a system which does not destroy other countries markets and which gives priority to fair prices for farmers and consumers, not to cheap exports, taking into account the costs of sustainable production in Europe.
Through cheap exports the CAP has historically damaged farming in developing countries, undermining their food security. EU farm policy has significantly reduced export subsidies, but current low farm gate prices combined with CAP payments still allow export-oriented trade companies to continue dumping agricultural goods at prices below European production costs.
