This week’s EU agricultural outlook conference in Brussels was the first of the new agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski’s term and coincided with the launch of the president’s Green Deal for Europe, the theme of this Commission term. The European Commissioner for Agriculture shared his session with the incoming Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides. She will be responsible for the “farm to fork” strategy which will be the agriculture part of the Green Deal.

The agriculture commissioner committed to defending the budget presented by the previous commission which included a proposed 5% cut in the CAP budget against any further reduction though adding that he wouldn’t oppose an increase.

He expressed concern about the number of farmers being lost to agriculture, saying that over the last decade almost 4m farms have been lost which is 1,000 per day or 2,000 over the duration of the conference.

Vision for agriculture

Land ownership is an issue for the new commissioner, with just 3% of farmers occupying 52% of productive land across the EU. He accepted that this was an issue for individual member states but he highlighted that this was part of the problem in attracting new entrants, an ambition the commissioner shares with his predecessor.

He recognised the unease about eco schemes as proposed for the next CAP

Commissioner Wojciechowski also articulated his view on the need for a strong CAP as the means to incentivise farmers to meet the higher expectations from agriculture in farming the way required in the EU and that carrot not stick was his view.

He recognised the unease about eco schemes as proposed for the next CAP and while he was anxious to get the CAP finalised as opposed to prolonging the debate he was open to proposals that would improve agri-environmental proposals in Pillar II.

Commissioner Wojciechowski also spoke on ambitions for organic farming, noting the wide variation between member states with organic production ranging from less than 1% to as high as 10% depending on the country.

He drew attention to the €10bn research fund as a great opportunity and it should be spent wisely to support the Green Deal with farming and rural communities in mind

His ambition is to make organic food more accessible to consumers and reduce the cost of its production. He also committed to simplification of the CAP as has been Commission policy under his predecessor as well. He drew attention to the €10bn research fund as a great opportunity and it should be spent wisely to support the Green Deal with farming and rural communities in mind.

Transport and trade views expressed by the commissioner appeared somewhat in conflict. In relation to transport, he spoke of 36m tonnes of soya coming into the EU from the US and that solutions were needed to shorten transport routed and reduce the distance between farm and fork.

He went on to advocate for international trade, recognising that it meant some areas lose out. He was quick to recognise the effect Mercosur would have on Ireland when he was challenged by the Irish Farmers Journal on the apparent paradox of shortening the distance between farm and fork, while opening the EU market to more beef imports from South America.

Fertiliser, pesticides and antibiotics

European Health and Food Safety Commissioner Stella Kyriakides told the conference that a new a new farm to fork strategy, a building block in the Green Deal, would be in place by spring 2020.

There would be no compromise on safety, quality and affordability of food and that “farm to fork” will support farmers and their livelihood as sustainability cannot be achieved without the food producers on board.

She also committed to action on the use of pesticides, fertiliser and antibiotics, stating that she wanted effective change. Reduction in the uses of these will enhance sustainability, and CAP will be a tool to help achieve these targets.

Comment

Ten days into the new commission, it is clear the vision for EU agriculture is one where farming and the rural environment and productive agriculture is maintained, with young entrants replacing an aging population of farmers.

This new generation of farmers will be expected to produce with less access to the scientifically proven tools of previous generations and in common use in the rest of the farming world while EU farmers are also expected to trade openly against these farmers.

Affordable and widely available organic production for EU consumers would also be desirable.

This is an idealistic view of EU agriculture and is only achievable with a comprehensive CAP support mechanism, far in access of what is being presented as a funding package in the current budget discussions.