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In September 2023, Commission announced the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture; it was launched in January 2024 and brought together participants from the European agro-food sectors, rural communities and academia to reach a common understanding and vision for the future of Union’s farming and food systems. Specific EU Board on Agriculture and Food, EBAF complements the dialogue with sector-wide expertise.
Background: CAP
Launched in 1962, the EU’s common agricultural policy, CAP is a partnership between, generally, agriculture and society, and between EU institutions and farmers in the member states. It aims to support farmers and enhance agricultural productivity to ensure a stable supply of affordable food while safeguarding their livelihoods. The CAP also focuses on tackling climate change, promoting the sustainable management of natural resources and preserving rural areas and landscapes in the EU states. Additionally, it seeks to sustain the rural economy by fostering jobs in farming, agri-food industries and related sectors. Through the CAP funds, the European Commission ensures that funding for the common agricultural policy is fair, ample, and transparent.
More on CAP funds in: https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/common-agricultural-policy/financing-cap/cap-funds_en
EBAF as a consultative body
The European Board on Agriculture and Food, EBAF aims at sustaining a new culture of dialogue, trust and multi-stakeholder’s participation among the agro-sector players and food supply chain. This consultative body is expected to provide high-level advice to the Commission on the follow-up of the report of the Strategic Dialogue on the future of EU agriculture and will contribute to the work on the “vision for agriculture and food”, to be presented within the first three months of the new Commission’s College mandate.
The current EU common agro-policy needs to be changed to meet current and future challenges and to accelerate the ongoing transition of agri-food systems towards more sustainable, competitive, profitable and diverse futures. This is also essential to make the CAP ft for purpose in the context of the EU’s enlargement process. Thus, the future CAP should focus on three central objectives: 1. providing socio-economic support targeted to the farmers who need it most; 2. promoting positive environmental, social and animal welfare outcomes for society; and 3. invigorating enabling conditions for rural areas.
EBAF members will be encouraged to foster understanding and exchange of experience among them and pay particular attention to the coherence and synergy of Union policies and their consistency with private sector initiatives.
The EBAF is set up for five years and is expected to meet in principle between two and six times a year; Commissioner for agriculture may convene the group for additional meetings when urgent advice is needed.
More on CAP in our recent publications during 2024:
= https://www.integrin.dk/2024/08/24/european-and-global-agro-food-situation-expected-perspectives/;
= https://www.integrin.dk/2024/03/19/supporting-agro-sector-in-the-eu-states/;
= https://www.integrin.dk/2024/03/09/european-agricultures-future-under-discussion-online-survey/
Dialogue’s main points
The Dialogue is crucial for developing a joint understanding of the future EU farming and food system. It supposed to tackle the following challenges and opportunities:
= How can we give our farmers, and the rural communities they live in, a better perspective, including a fair standard of living?
= How can we support agriculture within the boundaries of our planet and its ecosystem?
=How can we make better use of the immense opportunities offered by knowledge and technological innovation?
=How can we promote a bright and thriving future for Europe’s food system in a competitive world?
More on the strategic dialogue in: https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/common-agricultural-policy/cap-overview/main-initiatives-strategic-dialogue-future-eu-agriculture_en
Call for applications
A call for applications is published today to form the Board’s membership. It will be composed of maximum 30 member organisations representing three categories of stakeholders: the farming community, other actors of the food supply chain, and civil society including in areas such as environment and climate, animal welfare or consumer issues. There should be a balanced representation of these three categories of stakeholders in this group. The organisations who apply for membership should demonstrate the broadest relevant competence and expertise in areas relevant to agriculture and food at Union level and display the widest geographical representativeness from all EU member states: they should also be registered in the Transparency Register*).
The deadline for submitting applications to the EBAF is 8 January 2025; then the Commission will evaluate all applications and aims to finalize the Board’s membership at the beginning of 2025 and the Board’s first meeting will be convened immediately after.
*) More about the register in: https://commission.europa.eu/about/service-standards-and-principles/transparency/transparency-register_en
Citation
“Agriculture is at the heart of our Europe’s future: today, we carry forward the energy of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture to build trust and bring people together. The European Board on Agri-food is to tackle the full complexity of the agri-food value chain, supporting our farmers and a driving a more resilient, competitive, and sustainable agri-food system.”
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_6205
Note. According to the dialogue, “the agri-food sector is understood as the totality of economic and civil society actors including the consumer perspective. The sector ranges from upstream economic activity to primary production, processing and manufacturing, distribution and trade, as well as food environments and consumption, and finally to the recycling of waste. Agriculture includes all areas of plant cultivation and animal farming, as well as specialised crops and horticulture” (p.9).
A final report of the Strategic Dialogue on the future of EU agriculture (dated September 2024, with 110 pages) can be acquired from: https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/common-agricultural-policy/cap-overview/main-initiatives-strategic-dialogue-future-eu-agriculture_en
Financing for farmers and bioeconomy
The European Commission and the EIB Group agreed recently on €3 billion support in the form of loans from the of European Investment Bank (EIB Group) for agricultural and other bioeconomy activities in the EU states with focus on young farmers, gender equality and green investments.
All projects financed by the EIB Group are in line with the Paris Climate Accord; the EIB Group does not fund investments in fossil fuels. The Group is on track to deliver on the EIB’s commitment to support €1 trillion in climate and environmental sustainability investment in the decade to 2030 as pledged in the Group’s Climate Bank Roadmap. Over half of the EIB Group’s annual financing supports projects directly contributing to climate change mitigation, adaptation and healthier environment in the continent.
EIB Group is also working with the European Commission to develop new forms of agricultural insurance and de-risking schemes against extreme weather events. Besides, the new initiatives form part of EIB Group’s plan for agriculture and bioeconomy in the context of Strategic Dialogue on the future of EU agriculture, mentioned above.
This financial support marks the largest EIB-backed financing initiative for the European agriculture; it will be directed towards small and medium-sized enterprises as well as mid-caps. It will be spread over the next three years, with the first loans due to be signed in the first half of 2025.
The new financial support aims to spur investments in a range of activities including soil health, digital tools, water management and climate resilience. It is also intended to bolster training in sustainable farming practices and the purchase of land by young or new farmers. Ultimately, it is aimed at helping boost the 12% share of Europe’s farmers who are under the age of 40 and the 31.6% share who are women.
Reference to: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_6322