Christiane Lambert, President of the Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations in the EU (Copa), told a press conference on Friday 24 September that she did not understand “the European Commission’s deafness”, which is delaying providing an impact study on the effects of the strategies resulting from the ‘European Green Deal’ on the agricultural sector.
She called for the European Commission to publish a proper impact assessment before any decisions are taken and before the European Parliament votes on the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy in the near future.
European agriculture must not be damaged by a sudden change, stressed Mrs Lambert, who said that the first partial studies on the impact of the ‘Farm-to-Fork’ strategy showed a 10-15% drop in production, lower incomes for farmers, and higher food costs for consumers.
Ramon Armengol, president of the EU’s agricultural cooperatives (Cogeca), also spoke about the higher food prices and lower production that would result from this strategy. Energy prices have already increased, he noted.
Referring to the US initiative for productive agriculture, the Copa President said that this initiative came “as a reaction to the EU’s ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy, which says that less production is needed”. “Our proposal is to produce more and better, with less impact”, Lambert summarised. She insisted on new techniques (varietal research, new plant selection techniques, irrigation, etc.).
Increase in imports. In conclusion on this theme, the president of the FNSEA said that the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy was “not a good strategy for agriculture, because it goes against food sovereignty, it will increase imports, decrease production and we will lose farmers”.
Trade. We must insist on the principle of reciprocity in the trade agreements that the EU signs with third countries, said Ramon Armengol. He recalled that Copa-Cogeca could not support the trade agreement with the Mercosur countries.
Mrs Lambert welcomed the priorities of the future French Presidency of the EU Council in favour of ‘reciprocity’.
‘Mirror clauses’ (same rules on both sides of the border) would help achieve this, she noted. The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism could also come into play, according to the Copa president. According to her, agricultural production “should be included in this mechanism in order to be able to do carbon accounting for products”.
Another important issue for Mrs Lambert is the labelling of products within the EU, which should enable consumers to favour European products. The last priority highlighted by the Copa President was the EU’s autonomy in proteins. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)