Brussels, 06/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - EU agriculture ministers, who met in Milan on Tuesday 30 September, acknowledged that food safety is a geostrategic issue for the EU and for the world, stated the Italian minister Maurizio Martina, president in office of the Council. In the view of the Italian Presidency and of the ministers, this issue should be seen as a priority on the international agenda.
The ministers discussed how European agriculture could contribute to global food safety. This matter will be at the heart of the Milan universal exhibition in 2015. Martina believes that the ministerial debate provided the themes for the Milan universal exhibition: tackling poverty, reducing food waste (90 million tonnes of food are wasted annually!), the sustainability of the EU agricultural model and various more closely targeted initiatives (water resources, soil, etc.).
In this context, European Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos pointed out that EU agriculture had considerable room for improvement, particularly in the East, and that it was facing serious challenges: “Balancing the equation between production and maintaining natural resources, maintaining a leading role in rural areas in preserving the fragile balance of many territories, helping to satisfy the growing global demand for quality products, generating the growth and jobs Europe needs, handling setbacks on sometimes growth but also fluctuating markets.”
The commissioner highlights three main priorities for global action: trade, sustainability and innovation. And the common agricultural policy (CAP) “can be used as an external policy instrument. Where there is conflict, poverty … we have responses to bring, even on tackling climate change”, Ciolos stated.
Director General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) José Graziano da Silva, who was invited to take part in the meeting, highlighted the link between food safety and conflicts and between conflicts and immigration. “If we cannot manage the agricultural and rural development of the poorest countries, we will not be able to put an end to the uncontrolled migratory flows which are a source of concern in Europe and in other parts of the world,” he said. He laid emphasis on the importance of nutrition policy. (LC)