Brussels, 08/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 5 November, the Agricultural and Rural Convention 2020 (ARC) called for a new European food, agriculture and rural policy. The objectives of this policy, says ARC, a network which aims to give civil society a strong voice, have to go beyond those stated in the Treaty of Rome and embrace “food security, food quality and public health as well as sustainable standards in agriculture, protection of the environment, mitigation of climate change, strengthening of the rural economy, and the well-being of rural communities”.
ARC is calling for the common agricultural policy (CAP) to be renamed to encompass a new “European food, agricultural and rural policy”. This new policy, ARC argues, should receive broadly the same percentage of the EU budget but “we believe that a radical review of policies for both agriculture and rural development is needed”.
At a two-day conference in Brussels, ARC put the final touches on its “Communication of Civil Society to the European Union on the Future of Agriculture and Rural Policies”. It calls for the new policy to be implemented through two funds: the European Agricultural Fund (focusing on food and farming) and the European Rural Fund (focusing on the wider rural economy and territorial development).
ARC's proposals for agriculture centre on a key demand: sustainable farming everywhere. It says that “the current mainstream system of agriculture in Europe is inherently unsustainable”.
ARC is calling for a paradigm shift from industrialised agriculture towards a more sustainable form of farming. General subsidies, unrelated to sustainable farming systems or public goods, cannot be politically justified beyond 2013, when the EU's multiannual financial framework comes to an end. Financial support should, in future, relate to outcomes that Europe needs and which will not be achieved by market forces alone, namely sustainable practice, environmental stewardship, support for small and family farms and for those in difficult areas, and diversification of farm economies and rural economies.
The ARC communication also highlights the need for a “Rural Renaissance” building upon the strength and diversity of communities, cultures and resources, linked effectively to “regional development and honouring of the EU's commitment to social, economic and territorial cohesion”. This renaissance can, ARC argues, make a major cumulative contribution to the goals of the EU 2020 strategy, by finding new sources of growth and creating new jobs.
ARC is made up of more than 70 national, European and international organisations (http://www.arc2020.eu ). (L.C./transl.rt)