Green Deal and future CAP
As we all know, true priorities are written in the singular. The Green Deal for Europe is THE priority of the von der Leyen Commission. The Green Deal includes a chapter entitled “From Farm to Fork” which integrates the future CAP. As a result, the work in progress in the Council and Parliament on CAP reform is postponed indefinitely. The new objective for a new CAP is estimated “at the beginning of the year 2020”. But will it be a greener CAP or a real overhaul of the CAP?
Of course the Commission’s Communication on the Green Deal includes advances on “new technologies”, but when we get down to business, we can see that the intention to reopen the NBT dossier, which appeared in the first drafts of the Communication, has been removed in the final version. As for the outline of the future CAP, it seems very conventional, ignoring certain crucial issues, such as irrigation, or avoiding addressing the major contribution of agriculture in limiting CO2 emissions through its multiple roles.
The vision of the CAP in the Green Deal is in our opinion too continental and avoids addressing the global dimension of the problem. The “brain death”, to use a fashionable expression, of the World Trade Organization is a golden opportunity to rethink the foundations of the CAP by linking production to territories, and by regaining freedom over market management tools by finally emancipating ourselves from the concepts imposed by the Uruguay Round 25 years ago!
The Green Deal requires the support and contribution of consumers/citizens in the design of the future CAP, with the risk of leaving farmers on the sidelines of this change. The agricultural world must be at the heart of the upcoming discussions. It must equip itself, join forces and communicate. Not to defend, but to propose. That is our commitment.