EU agriculture ministers met earlier this week to discuss the future of food production. While it was an informal meeting, it was nonetheless important in that it marks the start of a process which will shape the next reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

One thing we should learn from the last reform process is the need to engage early in the discussion in order to steer the direction of travel. Many of the flaws in the current CAP model stem from allowing the then Commissioner for Agriculture Dacian Ciolos advance a flawed reform policy to a point where it became impossible for member states to significantly change the outcome.

As Pat O’Toole reports on page 11, the Dutch, who currently hold the presidency of the EU Agricultural and Fisheries Council, have raised the question as to whether or not CAP should be expanded to a Common Agricultural and Food Policy. The justification for such a move centres on the higher demands consumers are now placing on food quality and production.

While an interesting perspective, one does have to question the need to change the focus of CAP away from the farmer. Today, 12 million EU farmers are producing food to what are undoubtedly the highest quality and environmental standards in the world. When we look at global food production standards, it is clear that CAP has certainly not failed the consumer in relation to food quality and safety standards, food security, environmental sustainability and animal welfare.

Where CAP has failed is in delivering an economically sustainable model that protects the primary producer and, therefore, the production base. This is the biggest risk to the quality of food available to EU consumers: sacrificing EU production systems for imports that have been shown repeatedly not to meet EU welfare or environmental standards, and that are produced using technologies that are illegal here, such as growth hormones in the US.

Tackling this should be the primary focus of any discussion on the future of CAP and protecting EU consumers. This would require Europe to accept that the policy framework that has shaped CAP over the past 10 years is flawed and that the world has moved on. As we have seen in the US, it would require a realisation that:

  • The appetite does not exist within the main food-producing regions of the world to harmonise trade policies and internal support mechanisms.
  • Normal market forces do not apply in a scenario where primary food producers are squeezed by oligopolies that operate on either side of the farm gate.
  • It is simply not possible for farmers to find financial protection against adverse movements in global commodity prices.
  • Such a shift will need real political pressure, given the relentless focus there has been within the European Commission to demolish direct supports for active food producers, all with the aim of aligning CAP with WTO regulations. However, with the serious challenges facing EU farmers and the inability of the Commission to respond, there has never been a more compelling argument to support a change.

    The opportunity should not be lost. Foresight and political courage are needed from the Council of Ministers and from within the European Parliament if we are to realign CAP with the core principles set out in Article 39 of the Treaty of Rome.

    As we have highlighted in the Irish Farmers Journal, the choice is simple: continue as we are and effectively force even the most efficient farmers out of production; or look to reintroduce a balanced CAP that protects farmers and consumers through investment in efficient and environmentally sustainable food production systems.

    The need for a full reform of CAP should not be dismissed. In preparation, Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan should be assessing the political appetite among member states to agree an extension of the current CAP budget until 2022. Such a commitment would be key to clearing the way for a reform process to commence. While such a move will cause disruption and uncertainty, farmers cannot afford to operate in an environment where they incur the costs of producing to European standards and yet are accepting global market prices.