On Thursday, 8 December, European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski opened the 2022 EU Agricultural Outlook Conference on the theme of ‘A sustainable agri-food system forged in crises’.
On this occasion, the European Commission published its latest medium-term outlook for EU agricultural markets, income, and environment from now until 2032 (https://aeur.eu/f/4k2 ).
The European Commission also launched a new online ‘dashboard’ to monitor food supply and food security in the European Union; this dashboard presents a wide range of indicators such as weather and drought events, transport and energy costs, development of animal diseases, and possible trade restrictions.
Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides participated in a round-table discussion on ‘Transitioning to a more sustainable food system’.
The Dutch strategic plan. On Thursday, Janusz Wojciechowski told journalists that he was hoping to avoid the situation where the Dutch strategic plan implementing the CAP would not be approved. He wants a “clear decision” from the College of European Commissioners on the Netherlands’ strategic plan, since, “in the Netherlands, all indicators of the impact for the environment are the highest”—for example, greenhouse gas emissions.
The Dutch strategic plan is the last plan that the European Commission needs to approve by the end of 2022, since the new CAP is due to come into effect on 1 January 2023.
During the Agricultural Outlook Conference, the commissioner stressed that the European Commission would closely monitor the introduction of the CAP strategic plans and would be on hand to improve them, if needed.
The European Commission will publish an initial report at the end of 2023 to assess the joint effort of all CAP strategic plans. Mr Wojciechowski stated, “This report will provide us with a first insight of the working of the strategic plans and where adjustments can be made”.
The future of the CAP. This report will also constitute an important step towards the European Commission’s presentation of its “vision [of what] the CAP should look like beyond 2027”. Speaking to journalists, Mr Wojciechowski explained that he intended to present his ideas on the future of the CAP after 2027 towards the end of 2023 or in early 2024, even though legislative decisions will be taken during the next terms of the European Parliament and the European Commission.
In order to take on all the challenges [the EU is facing], “it is important to have the right budget”, stressed the commissioner.
“Currently, the CAP represents just 0.4% of GDP—is that the value we place on food supply? Is that enough to take on all the new challenges we face? Do we not need a bigger budget for agriculture if we want to take on all these new challenges?” he wondered.
Furthermore, the commissioner expressed that he supported the EU Council’s request for a new impact assessment on the Regulation on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides (see EUROPE 13079/13). “Yes, [...] I think we need a solid impact assessment”, he said.
Link to the commissioner for agriculture’s speech: https://aeur.eu/f/4k0 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)