EU’s New Vision for Agriculture and Food: A Bold New Path

This week, the European Commission unveiled its new Vision for Agriculture and Food, outlining key priorities for the sector leading up to 2040. The strategy rightly emphasises the strategic importance of food security and sovereignty, and aims for an agri-food system that is attractive, competitive, future-oriented, and fair for both current and future generations.

At AVEC, we welcome this forward-looking approach, which recognises the essential role of farmers and producers in ensuring Europe’s resilience and long term sustainability.

Positive Steps Forward

🌐 Economic Competitiveness: The recognition of agriculture’s role in Europe’s economic strength and global leadership is a step in the right direction. Ensuring a thriving agri-food sector is essential for the EU’s long-term stability and livelihood.

🌐 New approach to working together: An emphasis on building trust and dialogue, is also an important step forward. The review of the current Civil Dialogue Groups (CDG) groups is an opportunity to enhance collaboration, break down silos within the EU Commission and facilitate more inclusive policymaking.

🌐 Fair Trade and Reciprocity: The commitments to deepen reciprocity in trade agreements, ensure that imported products meet the same high EU production standards and also strengthen controls on imports, reinforce fair competition for European producers.

🌐 Labelling of Origin: Extending country-of-origin labelling for agricultural products and intensifying its promotion policy will empower consumers to make informed choices while supporting EU farmers.

➡️ At AVEC we equally advocate for the application of the country-of-origin labelling on processed products and products served in restaurants and catering alike.

🌐 Sustainable EU Protein Supply: Reducing dependencies on imports and strengthening Europe’s protein self-sufficiency is a crucial move to mitigate market volatility and supply chain risks.

🌐 Long-term Vision for Livestock: The Commission’s recognises that the EU livestock sector remains an essential part of European agriculture, competitiveness and cohesion. Policy measures moving forward will be taken to simplify regulations, incentivise innovation, and prevent unfair competition.

A Paradox About Mercosur… 🤔

The EU claims the Mercosur agreement will have limited impact on agricultural production, yet at the same time proposes a €1 billion reserve to mitigate its consequences. This contradiction raises serious concerns about the real effects of the deal. If the agreement truly had minimal impact, such a financial buffer would not be necessary. Before moving forward, this issue must be addressed to ensure that EU farmers are not unfairly burdened.

Conclusion

The Commission’s vision presents a solid framework for the future of European agriculture, but actions must align with ambitions.

At AVEC, we will continue to advocate for a balanced, forward-thinking approach that supports the entire agricultural sector while upholding Europe’s leadership in sustainability and food security. We remain committed to working with the European Commission and policymakers to ensure that this vision translates into tangible policies that safeguard the competitiveness and livelihood of EU producers while upholding the highest standards of sustainability, food safety and security and animal health and welfare.

Read our Manifesto here.