In her State of the Union address last September, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the launch of a “strategic dialogue on the future of agriculture in the EU” in order to depolarise the debates on the green transition. She reached out to farmers and the EPP political group to plant a seed regarding a slight pause in the adoption of texts arising from the European Green Deal, following the departure of Frans Timmermans, one of the most ardent defenders of this legislation in the Commission.
On 20 December, the President of the Commission also proposed downgrading the protection status of wolves from ‘strictly protected’ to ‘protected’ (see EUROPE 13318/6).
Ursula von der Leyen confirmed on 6 December 2023 that the structured dialogue on the future of European agriculture will be launched in January, without however providing any details on how it will be organised or its timetable (see EUROPE 13308/12).
The European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, has no control over this initiative, which has been entrusted to European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič.
However, Janusz Wojciechowski was keen to make his contribution to the debate by presenting ‘his’ vision of the future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In his view, the Commission should strengthen its crisis management tools and stop imposing too many standards on farmers.
For Ursula von der Leyen, this structured dialogue is above all a charm offensive with the agricultural electorate just a few months before the European elections, which may well see her returning for a second term at the head of the Commission. The party of which she is a member, the EPP, calls itself ‘the farmers’ party’.
Mr Wojciechowski’s spokesman, Olof Gill, told EUROPE on Thursday 4 January that this dialogue “will help to strengthen understanding of current and expected challenges and to listen to the concerns of farmers and other stakeholders throughout the agri-food chain”.
Stakeholders will range from small, traditional organic food producers to large wheat growers, and from those who produce and process food to those who put it on the market.
The dialogue aims to address pertinent questions such as: how can we give farmers and rural communities a brighter outlook, including a fair standard of living? How can we support agriculture while respecting the planet and ecosystems? How can we make the most of the opportunities offered by technological innovation? How can we promote a thriving European food system in a competitive world?
“The aim of the dialogue is to encourage the development of new solutions and to cultivate a shared vision of the future of agriculture in Europe”, explains Olof Gill.
The precise start date, the exact configuration, the timetable (events), the expected results and the list of participants in this structured dialogue have not been announced at this stage.
At the Agriculture Council on 23 January, a debate is scheduled on the strategic dialogue on the future of agriculture in Europe, according to information provided by the Commission. The Council of the EU hopes to achieve results on new genomic techniques before the European elections, while the outcome of the pesticides dossier is in limbo (see EUROPE 13316/13).
Christiane Lambert, President of Copa, said at the end of 2023 that the pressure on farmers had not stopped increasing (proposal on animal transport, interinstitutional agreement on industrial emissions) and called for an increased agricultural budget after 2027 and the appointment of a European Commissioner for Agriculture with a stronger role, with the post of Vice-President of the Commission (see EUROPE 13314/7). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)