On Wednesday 23 March, the EU’s agricultural organisations and cooperatives (Copa-Cogeca) welcomed most of the initiatives contained in the European Commission’s communication on food security in these times of war in Ukraine.
A wide range of actions were presented to improve global food security and to support farmers and consumers in the EU in the face of rising food prices and input costs (see EUROPE B12917/A8).
Copa-Cogeca is satisfied with the exceptional measures (€500 million) and derogations for areas of ecological interest (cultivation of land set aside for spring sowing in 2022), as well as the temporary easing of feed supply measures.
Copa-Cogeca regrets, however, the lack of short-term proposals to ease tensions on the fertiliser market. This issue should be addressed immediately by the ‘European Food Security Crisis Preparedness and Response Mechanism’, according to these organisations.
The European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA) said it was relieved after the release of a support package for the sector. The use of the crisis reserve and the establishment of a temporary crisis framework for State aid, as well as the increase in the levels of advance payments of CAP direct payments, are seen as positive elements.
The Commission’s communication “recognises the contribution of sugar to EU food security, but EU sugar production risks being put under pressure”, says the European Association of Sugar Manufacturers (CEFS).
CEFS Director General Marie-Christine Ribera said that EU sugar prices will have to rise substantially to compensate for the increased input costs faced by sugar manufacturers and beet growers. “Otherwise, sugar production in the next season (which starts in September in most countries) will not be sustainable.” The CEFS also notes that the communication calls on Member States to increase investment in biogas from sustainable biomass sources (agricultural waste and residues).
The productionist model under the collimator. Some NGOs and MEPs oppose measures to increase production to meet the war deficit.
According to calculations by the NGO Greenpeace, an 8% reduction in the use of cereals for animal feed in the EU would save enough wheat to compensate for the expected deficit in Ukraine due to the Russian invasion. It calls on the EU to “reduce industrial animal husbandry to free up enough grain to meet the wheat deficit and reduce the EU’s dependence on increasingly expensive and polluting synthetic fertilisers”.
Furthermore, according to a study by the organisation Transport & Environment, published on Thursday 24 March, Europe converts 10,000 tonnes of wheat (the equivalent of 15 million loaves of bread) into ethanol for cars every day. Transport & Environment calls for a halt to the burning of wheat and other food crops for biofuel production and describes the biofuel lobby’s push for increased production “at a time of severe global food shortages” as “immoral”.
In an interview on Wednesday, MEP Benoît Biteau (Greens/EFA, France) called those wanting to “put the production-based agricultural model back in the saddle” “cynical and indecent”.
He said that if the objectives of the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy had been met long ago, the vulnerability seen today would not be so high. Biteau disagrees with those who say that this strategy will affect the productivity of EU farmers. It is necessary, according to him, to put in place practices to “reduce dependencies, especially on fertilisers, which are produced with...Russian gas”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)