European Agricultural policy

Even though we chiefly associate Microsoft, Google, Amazon or Facebook with the content that appears across most screens every single day, the very same tech giants will soon indirectly appear… on our plates. While doing so, they will also strengthen the agro-food sector that has long needed a fundamental makeover.

The pandemic, an increase in energy prices, a 400% rise in the price of artificial fertilisers, and then the war in Ukraine – in the face of these events, questions about the future of farming in Poland and the EU are most definitely justified. Will this future see agriculture’s continued dependence on importing fertilisers and the gas necessary to produce them? It’s high time that we began to consider public support for moving away from mineral fertilisers. The viability of this move is obvious when we appreciate that food security depends on protecting natural resources and a stable climate.  

On 31 March 2022, the 19 EU Member States that submitted their CAP Strategic Plans (CSPs) by the 1 January 2022 deadline received their awaited Observation Letters. In this article we discuss the implications of the European Commission backtracking on a transparent process and explore the content of Observation Letters that have been partially released.

One of the key demands of Fridays for Future, the youth climate movement, is “Listen to science!” In the age of Covid-19, governments frequently consult scientists and adapt policies to their advice. Scientists have also been stressing for over a decade that a climate- and biodiversity-friendly diet contains less than half the amount of meat consumed in industrialized countries today.

As the negotiations start to come to a close, this article focuses on the remaining fair and green considerations. We shed light on the state of play in the CAP post 2022 inter-institutional negotiations, particularly in relation to those articles of the CAP Strategic Plan Regulation which are still open to political and technical discussions. So what’s the deal?

The Polish Government plans for a new Common Agriculture Policy seeks a compromise between the supporters of the intensification of agricultural production in the name of the paradigm of economic competitiveness, and the voices demanding that it reflects newer, environmental realities.

While the co-legislators and the trilogue negotiations at EU level continue to derail the future CAP away from the necessary reforms, in December 2020, the European Commission issued EU-wide and 27 country-specific Staff Working Documents providing recommendations directed to the Member States in charge of designing the future National CAP Strategic Plans.

How will the plans for the European Green Deal alter European agriculture policy? What needs to happen for Europe to pursue climate- and biodiversity-friendly agriculture that creates a rural landscape that people want to live in? And what is the role of diets and trade in all this?

Insects are in decline across the world because of industrial farming and heavy pesticide use which are threatening food production, according to the Insect Atlas released today in English by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and Friends of the Earth Europe.  

Polish farmers should not be afraid of the Green Deal, nor of the pro-ecological solutions being planned for the EU’s agricultural policy, because they are an opportunity for them, not a threat, argues Janusz Wojciechowski, EU Commissioner for Agriculture during a Citizens' Dialogue. He believes that the epidemic has shown highly intensive agriculture to be more susceptible to crises. The online meeting with the public was held on April 30.