The European Parliament Committee on Agriculture debated, on Monday 11 October, the Joint Research Centre’s study on the potential effects of the ‘Farm to Fork’ and ‘biodiversity’ strategies on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
MEPs criticised the European Commission for having hidden the results of this study for a long time and, in substance, they were concerned about the negative effects of these strategies on agricultural production and prices.
Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, Italy) regretted that the study had been presented so late (last August) and that the Commission had initially acted as if it did not exist. “Those taking the risks are the farmers”, Mr Dorfmann said. He called, as did Clara Aguilera (S&D, Spain), for the Commission to present a proper impact assessment on the effects of the Farm to Fork and biodiversity strategies on the different agricultural sectors.
For Anne Sander (EPP, France), the analyses follow one another and all come to the same conclusion: a minimal decrease in greenhouse gas emissions at the cost of a decrease in European production.
Martin Häusling (Greens/EFA), on the other hand, said that there was already a price crisis, for example in the pigmeat sector, because there was too much meat. He called for a strategy to reduce the use of antibiotics and pesticides.
Link to the Joint Research Centre study: https://bit.ly/30hJfcz (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)