100 NGOs call for major review of EU food and farming policy

As the Forum for the Future of Agriculture (FFA) conference kicks off in Brussels today, 100 leading environmental, health, and social NGOs are calling on European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and his team to initiate an in-depth review of food production and consumption in Europe.

Faustine Bas-Defossez, European Environmental Bureau (EEB) Senior Policy Officer for Agriculture and Bioenergy, said: “It is time for Juncker to give Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan the mandate to open the debate on whether the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is fit-for-purpose.

“Given that 53 billion euros is pumped into Europe’s farming system every year, it is only fair that taxpayers are allowed to see if they are getting a good return for their money.

“The European Commission has already put much of the EU’s environmental legislation through the mill, and it seems only right that the same level of scrutiny is applied to EU farm policies.

“Policymakers continue to claim that EU farming policies are greener and fairer than ever. But science shows that this is not the case.

“We need a food and farming policy that gives EU citizens access to healthy soils, water, air and, obviously, food.

“Farmers should be rewarded for such work, not for ploughing massive amounts of toxic chemicals into our land which are detrimental to their health, that of consumers and our nature.”

Trees Robijns, BirdLife Europe’s agriculture spokesperson, added: “We need a good, open and honest debate with all stakeholders about the CAP based on five points so often touted by the fitness check: its effectiveness, efficiency, coherence with other EU policies, relevance and the added value of an EU-wide policy against national ones.

“Essentially, the EU would finally have to ask itself (and answer) the question: Is the CAP fit for purpose?”