Below is the Executive Summary of the report, highlighting particular outcomes and future recommendations, please check back soon for the full report.
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executive Summary
The recent round of proposed reforms to the European Union’s (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was the subject of an animated roundtable discussion in Brussels on 09 November 2011. As part of its Greening Europe Forum, Friends of Europe welcomed more than forty experts in the field of European agriculture to debate the ecological, political and social aspects of CAP reform. “The main purpose of this meeting,” as co-moderator Franz Fischler, President of the Ecosocial Forum, explained, “is to discover the different links between agricultural policy and actual development in Europe and beyond.” Many participants agreed that much remains to be accomplished to tailor the CAP and Europe’s agricultural sector to meet the challenges of growing global financial and environmental instability.
One of the major roadblocks to a more effective CAP is the level of bureaucratic and administrative complexity. Hans Hoogeveen, Director General at the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, stated that “we need to simplify the CAP to allow farmers to remain farmers and not become bookkeepers.” It was noted that de-bureaucratisation would also serve to improve the competitiveness of the EU’s agricultural sector in global markets, if agricultural legislation could be adapted to give farmers the same freedom as entrepreneurs in other economic sectors.
Legislation takes a long time to effect change, however, and especially in the context of the agricultural sector, where the EU is still only beginning to understand the complex ecological relationships within and between the various regions in Europe. Discussants found that there is an increased interest in moving towards more innovation and efficiency to address this dawning understanding.
Many questioned the environmental and social sustainability of the current paradigm. The agricultural sector in Europe is facing some basic environmental challenges including soil and water pollution, resource scarcity and a decline in biodiversity. Discussants recognized that these environmental challenges are exacerbated by the tendency to trust in the philosophy of doing ‘more with less’.
Erik Mathijs, Professor and Head of Division of Agriculture and Resource Economics, The Catholic University of Leuven, went further, suggesting that “we are stuck in a dominant way of thinking about these matters wherein we believe that we need to produce more to feed more people. Though necessary to a certain point, this ‘productivist’ way of thinking needs to be balanced with sustainable thinking.”
Europe’s culture of consumption creates an elevated demand along the food production chain which is not always transmitted to the producers themselves, explained EU Commissioner for Agriculture Dacian Ciolos during a dialogue with the roundtable. In order to address this and other issues, the reform package put forth by the Commission in October proposes to enhance the role of producer organisations in order to invite producers to become more involved in the management of the sector.
Addressing the question of the political landscape of CAP reform, the Commissioner explained that, though some in the European institutions are seeking a more radical reform package, the nature of political compromise and the conflicting interests of the 27 EU member states has relegated Brussels to the position of a catalyst, creating instruments and prompting change. “The EU and the CAP need to be flexible enough to adapt to divergent regional issues,” he elaborated. “If we are not in a position to consider the specific conditions of specific member states, we risk fostering mistrust in the future functioning of the CAP.”
Another area which needs to be targeted is research and communication, it was agreed. Many participants welcomed Commissioner Ciolos’ announcement that the new round of reforms includes an augmented budget for agricultural research. However, he cautioned, the greater issue has to do with creating a better network for the dissemination of such research to the farmers’ fields.
Furthermore, it was suggested that communication to the overwhelmingly urban-dwelling European citizenry needs to be improved so that very relevant – and often neglected – agricultural policies be understood outside of the sector. To this end, the Commission has proposed a new communication plan, launching a campaign to present a less technical view on CAP reform.
Concluding the roundtable discussion, Franz Fischler reminded that informing the general population on the reform process, highlighting the difficulties facing farmers and legislators alike and understanding the truth about this essential building block of European society remains extremely important to the future stability of the EU.
