Twenty-eight stakeholders in the food chain called on Tuesday 12 October for the European Commission to finally publish a “comprehensive impact assessment” on the effects of the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy (see EUROPE 12809/5).
In a statement, the organisations say they agree with the main principles proposed in the strategy. “However, several recently published studies indicate that the current targets, if implemented as they are, will have a considerable cost for EU farmers and for the viability of the whole European agri-food sector”, according to these farm organisations.
The studies cited were conducted by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the EU Joint Research Centre (JRC), the University of Kiel, and the Wageningen Research Institute (WUR).
“EU agricultural production will fall, and very sharply in some sectors and products. In terms of the cumulative impact of the targets, the latest WUR study anticipates an average drop in production of between 10 and 20%, with a drop of up to 30% for some crops”, according to these organisations.
Link to the press release : https://bit.ly/2YFnZg7
A “disinformation campaign”, according to other organisations. The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and the Corporate Europe Observatory released on Tuesday a series of documents “proving how the EU farm lobby is working to undermine the EU Sustainable Food Strategy”. According to the EEB, “these leaks show how the agri-food industry lobby has orchestrated a massive disinformation campaign to undermine the EU’s sustainable food goals”. Thus, Copa-Cogeca is reportedly cherry-picking studies to convince MEPs to reject the EU’s Farm to Fork targets. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)