The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) says that it broadly welcomes a new plan for agriculture announced by the European Commission.
European Commission President von der Leyen promised to deliver her roadmap for farming within 100 days of the start of her second term. The “Vision for Agriculture and Food” was published on Wednesday.
It promises to work to make the agriculture sector more attractive to young people, to make the sector competitive and resilient, to reward farmers for “nature-friendly practices” and achieve “fair living and working conditions” for rural areas.
The IFA says the ideas are “broadly positive but ultimately it will be judged on how many of the objectives are achieved”.
The European Commission says it plans to simplify rules for farmers to reduce the administrative burden, but adds that “food safety standards remains a non-negotiable priority”.
In the long term, the next Common Agricultural Policy will be “simpler and more targeted, with support more directed towards farmers who actively engage in food production”, according to the European Commission.
Ursula von der Leyen said that farmers provide “all of us have safe and high-quality food. Yet, our farmers face the growing challenges of global competition and climate change. That is why today, we are offering a comprehensive strategy that makes farming more attractive, more resilient and more sustainable.”
The Vision sets out four “priority areas”:
- An attractive sector that ensures a fair standard of living and leverages new income opportunities (e.g. reviewing existing legislation on the food supply chain, presenting a Generational Renewal Strategy)
- A competitive and resilient sector in the face of global challenges (e.g. implementing a fairer level playing field for EU farmers in relation to the rest of the world, presenting a package of simplification measures, presenting a long-term vision for the livestock sector and a protein plan)
- Future-proofing the agri-food sector that works hand in hand with nature (e.g.streamlining and enforcing existing legislation, accelerating access to biopesticides, launching an on-farm sustainability compass to measure progress and simplify reporting)
- Valuing food and promoting fair living and working conditions in vibrant rural areas (e.g. updating Rural EU Action Plan, setting up an Annual Food Dialogue, reviewing the EU legislation on animal welfare, strengthening the role of public procurement).
“We need to see change and delivery on the objectives”, said the IFA Deputy President, Alice Doyle.
“Nice words are fine, but they must be backed up with a strong EU budget for the CAP and separate funding to support environmental measures on farms,” she said.
But environmental groups are more sceptical. Greenpeace said the European Commission has offered “little to curtail the environmental, climate and socioeconomic threats facing most farmers.”
The EU “pays massive amounts of public money to a model of farming that eats away at nature, rewards billionaire land-owners, puts small farms out of business and hollows out rural communities”, said the Marco Contiero from Greenpeace’s EU office.
“If nothing changes, European farming’s vulnerability to climate and environmental breakdown will grow, further risking farmers’ livelihoods and their very ability to grow food. This is the Commission’s tunnel vision on farming, unwilling to change course even as our food system crumbles.”