The Spanish Presidency of the EU Council organised, on Monday 4 September, a debate in Cordoba, Spain, within the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) on the agricultural aspects of open strategic autonomy, a concept aimed at improving Europe’s independence in critical areas while maintaining openness to cooperation and world trade.
The subject of open strategic autonomy will be discussed by the European Council on 26 and 27 October.
The Spanish Presidency of the EU Council presented delegations with its working document entitled ‘Fostering European food systems resilience under an Open Strategic Autonomy context’.
Several delegations mentioned the importance of innovation and technological developments in research, particularly for the benefit of small farms (intelligent agriculture, digitalisation, artificial intelligence, etc.). Several delegations indicated that sufficient funding should be allocated to research, innovation and technological developments and that farmers should receive adequate training in this area. The Commission’s recent proposals on new genomic techniques were mentioned (see other news).
SCA experts stressed the crucial importance of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), strategic plans and direct payments in ensuring resilient food systems and improving the sustainable productivity and resilience of European agriculture. Some delegations considered it essential to improve the tools and measures for managing risks and crises in agriculture.
With regard to world trade in agricultural products, several Member States stressed that it could increase the EU’s resilience, but that it was necessary to ensure that third country partners applied the same standards as Europe (environmental ambitions, fight against deforestation).
Some delegations underlined the importance of taking all aspects of sustainability into account. The idea of producing more in a more efficient way was raised.
The delegations also mentioned other issues, such as: increasing production capacity, supporting sustainable farming practices, providing incentives for young farmers, strengthening the sharing of best practices, striking a balance between resilience and competitiveness, improving logistics, diversifying supply, protecting agricultural land, reducing dependency, seeking more balanced food systems and the consumption of vegetables and seasonal fruit, mitigating the effects of adverse weather phenomena, the role of the circular economy and developing plant varieties that are resistant to climate change.
The European Commission has noted in particular that, in the context of open strategic autonomy, local and regional supply is not in opposition to global supply. It stressed that climate and environmental challenges had to be taken into account to guarantee open strategic autonomy for the future, and that consumption patterns had to be changed. It is essential to provide financial support and training to farmers in order to develop technological innovations, according to the institution.
The Commission told delegations that the use of risk and crisis management tools was still low, although there was an upward trend. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)