The European Commission released its Vision for Agriculture and Food to plan the future of the crucial sector in Europe and ensure its continued competitiveness in the face of new challenges like climate change, ahead of the new Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) that will enter into force from 2027.
The document is part of Ursula von der Leyen’s priority agenda and her new Commission. It consists of four focus areas of intervention that include several projects and future commitments. The Commission pointed to making the sector attractive, competitive, futuristic and with higher living standards for rural areas. In order to tackle the issues of the sector, von der Leyen said that “We are offering a comprehensive strategy that makes farming more attractive, more resilient and more sustainable.” Later in the year, the Commission also plans to revise the legislative framework for agriculture to simplify and will launch a digital strategy to help farmers with the digitalisation process. Moreover, by the end of the year, it will start releasing guidelines for the new CAP that will enter into force in 2027 and move away from conditions to incentives.
As part of its efforts to make the sector more attractive for young workers, the Commission will revise the “Unfair Trading Practices Directive” to avoid farmers will have to sell products at a lower value and will work to address entry barriers for the profession across the bloc. Linked with this area of intervention, the Commission plans to update its Rural Action Plan in order to ensure that rural areas are not left behind.
The Visions also will focus on creating more coherent standards across the bloc, especially on pesticides, trying to keep safety concerns without sacrificing competitiveness. Lastly, the Commission aims to align with farmers regarding environmental concerns, focusing on voluntary actions instead of punitive measures to establish a common benchmark. The recently announced Water Resilience Strategy will also help the sector.
“The roadmap we are presenting today sets out the path for tackling the many pressures that EU farmers face. It will make the sector more sustainable and help agriculture to remain an attractive and remunerative sector so that enough young people join the profession,” said the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, Christophe Hansen.
