The European Commission does not plan on carrying out prior assessment of the impact of the Farm to Fork strategy on farm incomes similar to the one completed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).?

The USDA warned that changes in areas such as fertiliser and pesticide use would result in a 16% fall in farm incomes, as a 17% rise in food prices would be unable to offset a 12% decline in production.

“I don’t share this vision, this dramatic vision that this is high-risk for food security, for food prices. My expectation is different,” Commissioner Wojciechowski said at a press conference on Wednesday.

He believed there would be opportunities for smaller farmers that were being “eliminated from production” by larger, more concentrated farms.

The Commissioner acknowledged the importance of impact assessments. However, he signalled that the Commission will monitor the outcomes of changes envisaged in the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies rather than conducting one large overarching assessment.

“We will monitor the results of the both strategies for two important areas of which one is food security. We cannot risk our food security. Food security is the first challenge. And for the fair incomes of farmers, because we will not have food security having no farmers.

“According to my knowledge, my observation and my vision of the potential consequences of the Green Deal on agriculture, it should [have] positive ?results.”