Work is progressing in the European Parliament on the strategy ‘From farm to fork, for a fair, healthy and environmentally friendly food system’, presented in May by the Commission and on which the EU Agriculture Council decided last October (see EUROPE 12584/26).
A compromise was reached between the co-rapporteurs of the relevant committees, Anja Hazekamp (GUE/NGL, Netherlands) of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) and Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, Italy) of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI). Paolo De Castro (S&D, Italy), member of the Committee on International Trade (INTA), is the rapporteur for the opinion.
Their draft report welcomes the proposed strategy as a vital step towards ensuring healthy, high-quality food for all and ensuring that the way food is produced and consumed in the EU will respect the planet's limits.
It advocates a holistic approach to address the problems of the current food system in an integrated manner, while ensuring the sustainability and viability of European agriculture and all operators in the agri-food industry, in particular SMEs and small family farms.
It underlines the inextricable links between healthy people, healthy societies and a healthy planet, and encourages the Commission to translate the strategy into concrete legislative and non-legislative action as soon as possible.
The text welcomes the announcement of a proposal for a legislative framework for sustainable food systems that has been subject to an impact assessment. The co-rapporteurs believe that this proposal should serve as a basis for defining a holistic common food policy aimed at reducing the environmental and climate footprint of the EU food system.
This is with a view to making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and strengthening its resilience to ensure food security in the face of climate change and biodiversity loss, by leading a global transition towards sustainability from farm to fork, based on the principle of a multifunctional agricultural sector.
The text welcomes the decision to revise the directive on the sustainable use of pesticides and the reduction targets for pesticides, fertilisers and antibiotics. It stresses the importance of pursuing these objectives through holistic and circular approaches, such as agro-environmental practices.
It also stresses the need to enhance natural carbon sinks and reduce agricultural emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, particularly in the feed and livestock sectors. It calls for regulatory measures and targets to ensure a progressive reduction of all greenhouse gas emissions in these sectors.
The draft report calls for the national strategic plans of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to ensure appropriate financial support and incentives to promote new ‘green’ environmental business models for agriculture and artisanal food production, in particular by encouraging short supply chains and quality food production. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)