Open letter to EU Commission: We need clear objectives for CAP

Current EU Commission proposals on future CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) objectives have been staggeringly vague and lacked substance.

Along with other Brussels based NGOs working on food, farming, environmental and animal welfare issues, we have sent EU Commission First Vice-President Timmermans and other Commissioners, a letter raising this important issue. If common EU objectives are not specific and measurable, Member States will not be held to account and they will be free to pick and choose the sustainability measures and level of engagement with ‘green’ issues as they please, not leaving much hope for a long term resilient and sustainable agri-food system.

Specific and measurable objectives are vital to ensure that the progress and impact of future policies can be monitored. With 40% of the EU budget devoted to the CAP, it is clearly important that effective and efficient use is made of public money and that it is used for public good. However, much of the discourse surrounding the future CAP has continued to focus on achieving ‘food security’ through increase in production. This assumption is unfounded and unjustified, given the levels of overproduction and overconsumption present in the EU today. This focus on production also serves to overshadow other objectives that play a critical role in ensuring a fair and healthy food and farming system, such as the environment, animal welfare, climate, human health and fair income for the smallest and most sustainable farms.

Read our letter to the EU Commision calling for clear, measurable and time-bound objectives for CAP:

Joint NGO letter to Timmermans on the CAP objectives