The measures proposed by the European Commission as part of the ‘Farm to Fork’ and ‘Biodiversity’ strategies, if fully implemented, would result in a significant drop in agricultural production in the EU, according to an EU study published on Monday 13 September.
This impact study published on behalf of the Grain Club Alliance and other associations and written by Professor Christian Henning, Director of the Institute of Agricultural Economics at Kiel University, Germany, confirms the negative effects of EU strategies arising from the EU’s ‘Green Deal’ on agricultural production and prices in Europe.
For cereals, oilseeds and beef, the reduction in production would be around 20%. At the same time, prices of agricultural products in the EU would rise considerably, according to the study: by almost 60% for beef, by about 50% for pork, by more than 30% for unpasteurised milk and by 10 to 20% for fruit and vegetables, oilseeds and cereals.
According to Henning, the expected greenhouse gas savings from reduced EU agricultural production “would be fully offset by increased GHG emissions from agriculture outside the EU”.
Furthermore, the EU agricultural organisations and cooperatives (Copa-Cogeca) have reacted negatively to the outcome of the European Parliament committee vote on the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy (see EUROPE 12788/15). “A very significant number of proposals approved in the committee vote cross red lines and simply call into question our food sovereignty and the future of our agriculture and rural areas”, according to Copa-Cogeca.
Link to the study: https://bit.ly/3Enso7M (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)