(11 January 2021) – Faced with the challenges of climate change and the public health problems posed by the use of pesticides, Europe must now rebuild its common food sovereignty, according to socialist lawmaker Eric Andrieu.
The reform of the EU’s main farming programme, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), is currently at the trilogue stage, meaning that interinstitutional negotiations are undergoing between ministers and MEPs.
Talks are currently stuck on the thorny issue of the strategic plans, one of the core aspects of the CAP reform and the main bone of contention with the Commission. Through these plans, countries will set out how they intend to meet the nine EU-wide objectives using CAP instruments while responding to the specific needs of their farmers and rural communities.
With the EU executive keen to ensure that strategic plans are able to deliver on the Green Deal, many stakeholders and lawmakers questioned the real contribution of the CAP reform currently under discussion to achieving the objectives of the EU’s flagship environmental policy.
“But behind this priority, there is another important one, which is rebuilding European food sovereignty,” said Andrieu. “The alternative is no longer between food sovereignty or lack of food sovereignty, it is between European food sovereignty and national food sovereignty,” he said. (EurActiv)